The Seven Dragons of Darkness
by Onyxsun51
Summary: Just after DotD Spyro and Cynder get back to Warfang but find out all is not well. A new threat is rising and they have to stand to face it. Rated T for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright just a quick AN before the story. This happens just after DotD. So I hope you all enjoy it.**

In the blue sky just above the green foliage of large trees, two dragons glided through the air. As they neared the ground the purple dragon couldn't contain himself any longer.

"We did it Cynder, he's gone!" The purple dragon cheered.

"I know we finally did it." Cynder said catching the dragon in a hug.

The two dragons rolled onto the ground laughing. They lay there for a few moments peacefully, before getting to their feet. "I still can't believe it. It was starting to seem like we would never defeat Malefor." Cynder said gleefully.

"Well you will believe it Cynder." Spyro moved over to hug the dragoness. "It's over now."

At that moment Cynder felt completely at ease. When their tender moment ended the dragoness looked around. They were in a small meadow with large oak trees surrounding them. A gentle breeze blew through the leaves leaving the dragons feeling refreshed. "So where do you think we're at?"

Spyro looked around before answering "My guess somewhere near the Valley of Avalar."

"As much as I want to stay here, I think we should get back to Warfang."

"Yeah, they're probably worried about us."

Cynder nodded and the two dragons lifted themselves off the ground, their leathery wings carrying their bodies into the air. The two were soon speeding through the air towards Warfang. They passed over the Valley of Avalar and over even more forest. Soon they could see the wall surrounding the dragon city in the distance. The dragons reached the city quickly and flew easily over the walls towards the temple, which poked out high above the other buildings of the city.

The temple looked like a large circular tower. It had rounded dome roofs that sprung out from the building in various places to cover its many floors and terraces. All along the stone building were statues of historic dragons and carving that left the temple looking very distinct. Before the main entrance were many steps leading up to the elevated tower. Once they reached the immense building they landed near the entrance and stepped through the massive doorway.

In the large main chamber were three elder dragons. Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador stood with their backs to the two dragons, obviously unaware of their return. "We're back." Spyro said loudly catching their attention. The three dragons whirled around to face the two. Their faces lit up when they saw them. Each exclaimed some sort of thanks to their ancestors as they approached the two dragons. A sudden flash blinded Spyro causing his eyes to water. "Spyro, buddy, you're home!"

"Hey Sparx." The purple dragon said feeling the dragonfly try to wrap around his snout. The dragonfly backed away allowing Spyro to see again. "Hey there Cynder I'm happy to see you and that's saying something." The dragonfly said, hurrying over to give the dragoness the same hug.

"It's good to see you too Sparx." Cynder said, accepting the dragonfly's hug.

"I think we are all glad to see you both." Terrodar's thundering voice boomed.

"Yes, a blessing from the ancestors to have you both back." Volteer said, running the words together.

"I take it that Malefor is gone from this world?" Cyril asked bluntly.

"As far as we know yes, he is gone for good." Spyro answered, puffing out his chest proudly.

"Yet, another blessing bestowed upon us this day."

"The dragons around the world will thank both of you for this deed." Terrodar said bowing slightly. The others seeing his gesture followed his lead.

"That only leaves one more question young dragon." Terrodar said raising his head, "Where is Ignitus?"

Spyro suddenly seemed to shrink, his head falling and his wings drooping. Up until that moment he had felt as though nothing bad could happen. His eyes began to water and he turned his gaze Cynder's way silently asking her to tell them what had happened.

Cynder sighed not feeling very comfortable talking about the situation either. "Ignitus fell when he helped us get through the ring of fire, I'm sorry."

The guardians stepped back from the sudden shock of losing their friend. Spyro could only close his eyes and shake his head in sorrow. Cynder extended a wing over the dragon, but he could only look up sadly at her. She nuzzled him before saying, "It'll be okay Spyro."

"You have both had a long day; I think it would be best to retire for the time being." Volteer said being the first to regain his composure.

The dragons only nodded, feeling as if the energy they had left had been drained. As Spyro and Cynder began to walk past the guardians, with Sparx trailing them, Cyril spoke again, "Young dragons." The two of them turned to face the ice guardian. "It's this way." He said pointing a claw out towards the city.

"What? What do you mean out there?" Cynder asked confused.

"Yeah, you guys are the guardians, so you live, you know in the temple." Sparx said pointing his fingers towards the floor.

Terrodar sighed. "Spyro, Cynder, Sparx we are all well beyond our prime, you must know that." The three stood perfectly still waiting for the dragon to continue.

"Our time is up; it is time for the world to embrace new guardians."

"What, when did this happen?" Spyro growled, his voice echoing off the ornate stone walls.

"Just recently, come now Spyro you know in the back of your mind that we are no longer fit to be guardians. We can hardly fight anymore." Cyril said.

Spyro didn't know what to do. Only five minutes ago he had been celebrating defeating the Dark Master. The sharp contrast that had ensued was so different it had nearly left him in a state of shock.

"Come on Spyro lets just follow them." Cynder said quietly shaking the dragon from his thoughts.

Spyro looked to her with pleading eyes. When he saw no answers within her turquoise orbs he only nodded reluctantly, and followed the elder dragons out of the temple. The five dragons walked slowly down the many steps that lead to the streets below. Sparx now sat on Spyro's horn having lost the will to move his wings.

As the dragons walked along silently many dragons and moles noticed them. Before long many gathered to see the two dragons that had defeated Malefor. They all cheered but Spyro and Cynder could hardly take notice of the crowds. From the sides of the street many female dragons looked at Spyro with almost hungry eyes. Some would say things to him but the dragon didn't even hear it. One dragoness was so bold as to run up the purple dragon and give him a lick on the cheek before running back to her friends, giggling. The dragon didn't even notice, and lucky for the young female neither did Cynder. The reminder of Ignitus' death and the guardians being replaced weighed too heavily on all their minds to really consider anything else. The dragons continued their walk through the cobblestone streets of Warfang silently.

"Hey." Spyro heard a voice say over the rest of the crowd. For reasons he didn't quite know he decided to lift his head and look at the dragon who faced him. The dragon was about Spyro's age and he had dark red scales and his crest was stark white.

"You're Spyro right." At this point Cynder had stopped to see who was talking to her friend. "And you must be Cynder, Terror of the Skies." His addition of the title caused Spyro's head to perk up almost knocking Sparx from his horn.

"What did you say?" Spyro growled showing his teeth and lowering his body ready to jump on the dragon if need be.

"I guess so; well I just wanted to see what all the commotion was about, turns out its just two dragons." The fire dragon said, shifting a yellow eye over to Cynder who had heard her old name and taken sudden interest.

"Who are you?" Spyro growled, this dragon was getting on his nerves, and he was in no mood for it.

"Whoa, easy there." The dragon said nonchalantly. "My name's Blaze and you had better watch your tone with me you may be a purple dragon, but I'm your new fire guardian." The dragon said opening his wings to try to make himself seem bigger than Spyro.

Spyro reared his head back in shock. All the things that had been flitting through his mind suddenly left him. He could hardly believe that this pompous dragon had been given the title of guardian. "You're the one who is replacing Ignitus?" Spyro growled on the verge of losing his temper.

"Yeah, I am replacing him I just thought I should let you know. Seeing as you're so important." The fire dragon looked around at the crowds who were still raging, although a few had stopped to try and listen in on their conversation. "It looks like you have your hands full already so I won't take anymore of your precious time." The dragon added sarcastically before turning to fly off.

Spyro snorted shooting flames out of his nostrils. "Can you believe that guy?"

Cynder shrugged, "Spyro the way this day is going I could believe that the Dark Master is alive again."

"Hey." The two jumped slightly when they heard Sparx's voice. "Don't joke about that, I don't know about you two but I don't want to jinx it."

The two smiled at each other, the dragonfly's comment lifting their spirits slightly.

"You didn't even have to fight him Sparx." Spyro said.

"Hey, I did my part." Sparx said his voice rising slightly.

"We know Sparx, we wouldn't have made it without you." Cynder said as she continued to walk.

"That's right and don't you forget it." Sparx said waving a finger at her.

Spyro and Cynder only shook their heads still smiling and continued after Terrodar. After another five minutes of walking they reached the elder's house. It was big. The building had two floors and three towers sprouting out of three of the corners of the house. A few terraces accented the towers. There wasn't very much that was impressive about the building besides its stature, but that was enough to gain the dragon's interest.

The friend's mouths dropped in awe. They had never expected the house to be this extravagant. The three elder dragons looked back and chuckled slightly when they saw the dragon's faces.

"You didn't think that the city would drop us guardians in the gutter after so much service did you?" Volteer asked sarcastically. The two dragons could hardly tear their eyes from the building long enough to give the lightning guardian a smirk.

"Well let's not dawdle; I imagine it's just as nice on the inside." Cyril chided.

As the dragons walked in they were surprised again to see a very intricate interior. As they entered they were in a large family sized area. There were a few large plush looking pillows scattered around the room for dragons of any size to lie on. On the walls around the room were carvings of interweaving ivy. A couple windows went around the room, thin red curtains covering them, bathing the room in an orange glow. A few potted plants sat in the corners giving the room even more color. Off to one side of the room was a stairway that the dragons knew lead up to the second level of the house. On the other side of the room they could see a hall that lead to other bedrooms.

"Not to bad, eh?" Terrodar asked tapping Spyro with a claw.

"Ya, this place is amazing." Spyro said coming out of his trance.

"You three can stay upstairs." Cryil said. "I suggest you all get some rest."

"No one's arguing with you there." Sparx said as he lazily floated off Spyro's horn and towards the stairs before disappearing.

Spyro sighed at his brother's impoliteness. "Thank you for letting us stay here with you." He said after a moment.

"It is our pleasure young dragons." Volteer added, as the two dragons walked up the stairs.

The dragons went up the stairs and quickly came onto the second floor. For the most part it looked the same as the first floor, although it seemed to b only one room. Pillows were placed on the floor for them to sleep on, Spyro noticed his brother already asleep on one of them, the large pillow making him look even smaller. They noticed though that on two sides of the room were the terraces they had seen from outside.

"Wow, I almost think this is better than the temple." Cynder said walking over to a pillow and testing its softness with her paw, before turning her eyes towards the terrace closest to her. She nodded her head towards the balcony; Spyro catching on followed her out onto the veranda. The two dragons walked out to see that they were higher than most of the buildings around them. Over the low roofs of the city they could make out the wall that was around the city. Off to their left was the temple that seemed to shoot into the sky.

"It sure is nice." Cynder said, looking around at the view of the city. Spyro followed her eyes looking at the things she looked to. After a moment he got caught up looking at the dragoness. Her thin sleek body cured seductively. Her scales were shining in the evening light giving her a glow. Despite the appearance of her body Spyro soon found himself focused in on her turquoise eyes. It didn't take the dragoness long to feel his eyes on her and she turned to look at him. "What is it?"

"Nothing, just taking in the greatest sight in the city." Spyro said and almost didn't believe he had said the words.

Cynder blushed, counting herself lucky that her black scales covered up the sudden flare of color. She averted her eyes from his, slightly embarrassed. Her previously calm mind was now overrun with thoughts. The first thought that crossed her mind was when she and Spyro were piecing the world back together. She remembered the words she had said there, the subtle 'I love you' just before everything flashed white. She could only assume that the dragon had heard her and that was why he was acting like this. Suddenly, the thoughts were silenced as she felt Spyro's lips press against hers. The sudden action caught her off-guard but she did not shy away, only a second or two after, they heard many cries from below them. The two pulled away and looked down below to see more than a few dragons looking up and watching them.

"Right, maybe we should go someplace more private." Spyro said half-smiling.

Cynder just nodded still embarrassed at being caught. The two walked back inside the house and over to a nearby pillow. They lay down next to each other happy to finally be at rest. Just happy to be near Cynder, Spyro laid his head down on the pillow. As he did he felt Cynder give him a gentle nuzzle before whispering, "Good night Spyro." The purple dragon smiled as Cynder moved a little closer to him before they both fell into a sound sleep.

The next morning Cynder woke up. After letting her eyes adjust to the light she shifted her eyes to see it was already light outside. The dragoness got up and began to stretch out her stiff muscles. As she moved around, the pillow beneath her paws moved too waking Spyro. The dragon groaned slightly before opening his eyes. "Cynder, why are you getting up so early?" He asked groggily his eyes barely open.

"Spyro we can't just waste the day away sleeping."

"I beg to differ Cynder." Sparx said from across the room, their brief conversation waking the dragonfly.

At this point Spyro, had woken up slightly and was beginning to see Cynder's point. The dragon got onto his feet and began to stretch as well. "Sparx she's right we can't get lazy now."

"Who says we can't we beat Malefor didn't we?" Sparx said, beginning to get up despite his arguing.

The dragon didn't answer he just finished his stretch and then, along with Cynder walked over to Sparx. "Come on Sparx." Spyro said.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming." Sparx said while floating up to rest on Spyro's horn. "Now go." Sparx said pointing a finger forward. Spyro shook his head, almost dislodging the dragonfly before walking off down the stairs. The three walked down the stairs and into the main living space. The three guardians sat there already eating a few strips of meat. Volteer was the first to notice them. "Ah, young dragons I didn't expect you up this early."

"We figured you three would sleep all day." Terrodar added with a laugh.

"Told you we should have." Sparx whispered so that only Spyro and Cynder could hear.

"None the less we have some food here, if you want it." Volteer said nudging some food forward.

Spyro heard his stomach growl, it felt like he hadn't eaten in days and in reality he probably hadn't. "I think we could stand to eat some food if you don't mind." Spyro said sitting down with Cynder sitting next to him.

As the two ate their food Sparx fluttered off of Spyro's horn and over to the guardians. "Anything for me by chance?"

"Ah, yes the lightning bug. Here this should be enough." Terrodar said lifting an apple to Sparx. The dragonfly ignored the nickname and quickly grabbed the apple by the stem. As he began to fly away, he only succeeding in a slow descent because of the weight of the apple, luckily he landed where he wanted and began to eat. Before long all the dragons, and dragonfly, had finished their breakfast. Sparx barely succeeding in eating a forth of the apple.

"Alright, well what should we do now?" Spyro asked.

"We could go explore the city," Cynder suggested. "We never really got the chance because last time we were, you know, under attack."

"Sounds good to me." Spyro said rising to his feet.

The day went on uneventfully as Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx took some time to walk around the city and familiarize themselves with the place. On the third day the dragons walked out the door of the guardians house again hoping to find something new this morning.

"Don't be late." Volteer said quickly and almost too quietly to hear, as the dragons walked towards the door. Cynder turned her head to look at the electric guardian but didn't say anything when the elder didn't return her gaze.

The two dragons burst into the sunlight of the outdoors, the bright daylight hurting their eyes and causing them to look down for a moment. Once their eyes adjusted they walked down the cobblestone path that winded through the streets of the city. The day passed fairly fast with the two dragons walking through the many avenues of the city. Many of the dragons stared at them, some even applauded or cheered for them as they passed. The dragons did little more than politely nod to the passerby's. Before they knew it the day was ending. As dusk fell the two dragons realized that they should probably get back to the house, although this day they had ventured quite far from their home, in the hopes of finding something different.

"Uh, do you have any idea where to go?" Spyro asked.

"As in where to go to get back to the house?" Cynder asked, and Spyro nodded his head expectantly.

"No, I have no clue where to go." Cynder said smirking at the dragon.

"Sounds like you two could use a bit of help." The two turned to see who had addressed them, since they had believe they were alone, before them stood another dragoness. She had mottled green skin with patches of brown covering her scales. Her eyes and wings were both golden in color. Her tail was in the shape of a deadly looking spiked ball.

"I guess we could, I'm Spyro and this is-

"Cynder." The dragoness finished for him. "I would have to have been born yesterday to not know who you two are."

"Oh, well we were just trying to find our way back to the guardian's house." Cynder explained.

"I can help with that follow me. Everyone knows where the guardian's house is." The dragoness said before trotting off.

"So can I ask who you are?" Spyro said after a minute of silence.

"Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Tera. I'm the new earth guardian."

"Oh congratulations." Cynder said. She quickly looked over to Spyro expecting him to say something of the same manor but found him lost in his thoughts.

The mention of her guardian title had reminded Spyro of Ignitus. As he thought about the fire dragon he realized that he was going to go insane if he continued like this. He loved Ignitus like a father but mourning over him all the time would not bring him back or make himself feel better. The dragon quickly pushed the fire guardian from his mind. A sudden burst of laughter made the dragon jump, and he started to wonder how long he had been thinking.

"Uh, what is that?" Spyro asked, suddenly suspicious of where this dragoness was taking them.

"Oh don't you know?" The three rounded the corner to see a large plaza completely lit up and full of dragons and moles. "This is your party."

The two dragon's jaws dropped, seeing the vast amount of people who had come to attend, 'their' party. "What do you mean our party? What is this for?" Cynder asked caught off balance by the celebration.

"You know I thought you two would be smarter than that. It's for defeating the Dark Master." Tera explained. "The guardians set it up for you. I guess their whole surprise plan worked."

When the two dragons didn't speak she simply said, "Surprise!"

With that exclamation the three dragons walked towards the plaza. The place was surrounded by buildings and lit with lamps to keep the darkness at bay. Dragons swarmed the plaza along with moles. Tera quickly located who she was looking for and pushed her way through the crowd. Soon though she didn't have to as people noticed Spyro and Cynder, they began to part before them. As they walked the people began to cheer for the two dragons again.

"You know I can't tell if they are blowing this out of proportion or not." Cynder whispered to Spyro so no one else could hear. Spyro only shrugged in response as they continued their walk.

"Hello, young dragons." They heard a familiar voice say over the crowd. They looked up to see Terrodar standing in front of them with Volteer and Cyril standing close by. Tera immediately walked off to the side of the guardians to stand next to who Spyro could only assume where the other new guardians. Blaze stood among them, but Spyro turned his attention away so as to not ruin the moment for himself.

"Surprise young ones! What do you think?"

"Terrodar, you didn't have to do all this for us." Spyro said with Cynder nodding her head.

"On the contrary young dragons you two have done a great service, and deserve a reward." Terrodar said his voice rising so that all could hear him.

"It doesn't feel right though, we just did what we thought was right we didn't need all this."

"You are too modest young one. You deserve a little gratitude." Cyril added.

Spyro sighed still not comfortable with the whole situation. "Well, thank you then this is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me and I'm sure Cynder would agree with me." The purple dragon said smiling.

"Good then, everyone please enjoy the festivities." Volteer said raising his voice and the dragons cheered in response.

"Can you believe all this?" Cynder asked as many of the dragons dispersed to enjoy the party.

"No, I still don't- The purple dragon cut off as he heard a hissing sound coming from behind him. The dragon whirled around, to look behind him with Cynder spinning herself around too. A green glob of acid was headed straight towards the dragons. Before giving it a second thought the two dragons rolled out of the way, each in a different direction.

As they regained their footing the dragons looked to see a black dragon standing in front of them. His horns were made of ivory like Cynder's but curved backwards like a ram's horns. His crest and wings were both matching in a dark green color, so dark is almost appeared black. His tail ended in a sinister blade but the thing that caught both of the dragon's attention was his blazing red eyes.

"Who are you?" Cynder asked in a hiss.

"I know you Cynder I'm surprised you don't remember me." The dragon said. In the blink of an eye the dragon charged forward ramming Cynder in the chest.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled, before firing a bolt of electricity at the dragon.

The black dragon hardly seemed to notice the attack. He shrugged off the numbing electrical charge and turned towards the purple dragon.

"You'll have to do better than that Spyro." He said.

Once again the dragon seemed faster than it seemed possible. Spyro barely had time to dodge another glob of acid as the dragon seemingly appeared in front of him. As the purple dragon sidestepped the attack he spun sweeping his tail around and tripping the black dragon. The black dragon stumbled but regained his balance quicker than Spyro could have expected the purple dragon jumped backwards but wasn't quick enough. The black dragon slashed with his claws tearing a gash in Spyro's chest. The purple dragon roared in pain at the wound.

By this point most all of the party guests had stopped what they were doing to watch the fight. Anyone who hadn't been watching had their attention drawn by Spyro's sudden roar. Their shock at the sudden mood change kept them from jumping in to stop the youngsters.

Cynder charged across the ground to where the dragons were. As she closed in the black dragon spun around to face her, his tail blade stopping just in front of her throat.

"You've slowed down a lot Cynder. I expected better from the two dragons who bested Malefor."

The dragoness stood stunned in place as the dragon's tail-blade quivered anxiously in front of her throat. "I should think I should end this here- the dragon suddenly lurched to the side as Spyro rammed into his side.

"Stay away from her!" Spyro yelled at the dragon, furious that he had almost killed her.

"Now tell us what you want." Cynder said baring her teeth menacingly.

The black dragon got to his feet again and looked around to see the other dragons starting to approach him. With a snort he turned back to Spyro and Cynder. "Meet near the oracle if you want to figure this out." With those quick words the dragon lifted himself off and flew away into the night.

"What was that all about?" Cynder asked.

"I don't know. Are you okay Cynder?" The dragon asked looking the dragoness over.

"A little shaken but I'm okay." She in turn looked at Spyro. She gasped when she saw the gash that was bleeding out across his chest covering his crest in blood.

"We have to get you fixed up now." She said urgently, leading the dragon off towards the guardians.

Spyro didn't pay her much attention. He didn't notice all the eyes staring at them. He didn't notice anything he just watched the spot where the black dragon had disappeared in the sky. He had a bad feeling about what was about to happen.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: For anyone who saw the first AN I have decided to change it. Basically, I would prefer some sort of feedback just to know if people like the story or not. Although, I will continue the story no matter what.**

Spyro let out a sigh of satisfaction as the adult dragoness placed the ointment over the wound that had bled out on his chest. "Feeling better?" The fire dragoness asked pleasantly. The dragoness had been unhappy knowing that during the party to celebrate Spyro and Cynder's victory over Malefor she would be on her shift. The fire dragoness' mood had been uplifted when she had first seen the two dragons step into the building where she worked.

"Yeah, thanks, uh?" The purple dragon fumbled for a name.

"Srali." The dragoness replied bowing slightly. "It is a pleasure to make both of your acquaintances; although I wish it had been under better circumstances."

"I think we all wish that." Cynder said.

"Can I ask what did happen to you?"

Spyro and Cynder looked at each other and shrugged. "In all honesty we aren't really sure." Spyro explained. "One minute we were at the party…"

"And the next some black dragon came out of nowhere and attacked us, just when he got there though he left." Cynder finished.

The dragoness scratched her head with one sharp looking claw. "That is peculiar; we haven't seen any black dragons since…" The dragoness trailed off as her eyes fell on Cynder.

The black dragon sighed and her whole self seemed to shrink at the recollection of her past. "I'm not proud-

"No, Cynder don't worry about it I know why you did what you did. You weren't yourself, it wasn't your fault." Srali said. "I'm sorry; I imagine it is something you would like to forget."

Cynder nodded thankfully, but stayed silent. Spyro walked over to her and placed a paw on top of hers, hoping to give her some shred of comfort. The black dragon noticed the gesture and gave the purple dragon a weak smile.

"We should probably get going." Spyro said after turning away from Cynder.

Srali nodded, "I imagine that you two have much to talk about. It was nice to have met both of you." The dragoness bowed slightly again.

"Yeah, thank you for everything Srali." Spyro said.

"It, was my pleasure, I hope you both feel better." Srali said directing her comment more at Cynder than Spyro. She was no expert on people's emotions but she could tell that her unintentional comment had struck a chord with the dragoness. She felt terrible about it but could only watch as the two dragons walked from the room. The dragoness sighed and went about her work once more.

The dragons walked out into the late night. The clinic they had entered only a block away from the plaza where the black dragon had attacked them. By now the city was completely quiet. Nothing moved and no lights shined, leaving only the star and moonlight to guide the two through the alleys. Cynder eventually broke the silence of the night. "Spyro, who do you think I am?"

"What? What do you mean?" The dragon asked thrown off by the black dragoness' question.

"Who do you see me as Spyro? Do you only remember my past?" The dragoness asked her voice rising as she stopped to face the dragon, a gust of wind swirling through the air as she turned to face him.

"Cynder what are you talking about, when I see you I never think about your past." Spyro retorted almost hurt that the dragoness would make that assumption.

"But, you do know my past Spyro, it's there it happened, I did all those horrible things."

"Cynder calm down, the past is the past, what happened, has happened."

"You don't get it Spyro, that's the point all those things _did_ happen! I can never forget them." The dragoness shouted angrily. "And neither will anyone else!"

"Cynder I don't understand what are you trying to solve here? What is it that you're trying to accomplish?" The dragon asked his own voice rising slightly in irritation.

"Spyro, you don't know what its like." The dragoness said her anger fading and being replaced with a sudden fatigue. Spyro waited patiently for her to continue. "Spyro my past has classified me as a terror. The entire world is afraid of me."

Spyro walked over to the dragon and laid down where she had settled. "Cynder." He said softly nudging her head with his own. When she turned to face him her eyes had begun to water.

"Cynder, no one is afraid of you." The dragon continued. "You saw everyone here tonight and the days before today. People are welcoming you with open arms. They are praising you for helping to defeat the Dark Master. You are far from hated."

"But, those things that I did." The dragoness said softly. "People remember those things."

"It doesn't matter, people know Cynder, and they know that you were under the Dark Master's power. It's not your fault."

As the dragoness fumbled with another argument, Spyro cut her off. "Cynder you can't erase your past, but you can show people that you are a different person." After a short pause he moved her head so that she was looking at him. "You are a different person." He whispered.

As he spoke the words the dragoness stared at him with teary eyes silently. Spyro didn't comply but instead draped a wing over her body. "And Cynder you'll always have me to rely on no matter what happens I'll be there."

The dragoness sighed softly her mind was slowly calming as she replayed the dragon's words in her head. "Spyro." She said and the dragon looked down to her. Before he could respond the dragoness kissed him softly. She stole her lips back though almost as quick as she had brought them. "Thank you."

After the initial shock left him Spyro smiled at the dragoness. "We should get back to the guardians and Sparx; I imagine they're waiting for us."

Cynder nodded in response and the two stood slowly and continued down the path back towards the Guardian's house.

Azshea sat on a balcony outside her house. The small pavilion hung out from the second story of a well constructed home. She looked out at the view the balcony afforded her. The small town that the fire dragoness lived in was tiered. She lived on the top tier, looking out across the all three tiers she saw that they were lit with fire, the flames licking many of the buildings and burning them to ashes.

The dragoness turned away from the sight a tear caught in her eye. The pain of seeing her town being destroyed was too much for her. As her head fell she noticed her necklace and began to twiddle the leaf pendant in her talons absently. The bronze colored leaf had been given to her by her father. The bronze leaf standing out against her pinkish crest and deep crimson scales. "I know what you would do, but…" The dragoness trailed off as she continued to trace the leaf with her talon Azshea didn't notice another dragoness step out onto the balcony.

"Azshea what are you doing out here?" The dragoness asked in a hiss. Azshea only stopped tracing her necklace but otherwise made no indication that she had noticed the dragoness.

"I told you not to come out here you'll get hurt! The city is under attack so get back in here before they see you!"

"Mom, do you not get it?" The younger dragoness snapped finally. Her ocean blue eyes centered on her elder her eyes were filled with intensity. "You just don't understand. This town is under attack I could go down there and try to make a difference, and maybe save someone! I was trained I can fight! Let me-

The dragoness was cut off as her mother; Ashe slapped her across the face. "You will talk to me in no such tone!" The dragoness screeched. Azshea slowly rose to her feet rubbing her cheek and trying to stifle her anger.

"You have no idea how to be a parent." Azshea said calmly all the while backing away towards the balcony's edge, a look of pure contempt on her face.

"Azshea you will come back here this instant, I am your mother and you will show me respect!" The adult yelled.

"How can I do that when you don't even know what respect is." The dragoness said shaking her head. Without a second thought, the dragoness leapt backwards over the railing of the balcony and through the air.

Azshea's eyes widened though when she saw her own mother's head rear back and watched her let loose a burst of fire. Azshea reacted quickly and let loose her own fire breath. The fire collided between them before combusting and rocking the foundations of the buildings around them. As the smoke cleared Ashe saw her daughter flying off towards the lower tiers of the city. The dragoness ground her teeth in irritation before making a curt turn and reentering the house.

Azshea glided through the air, thoughts running through her mind. She had never much cared for her mother, their relationship had been tenuous at best, but to openly attack her was something even worse. As the dragoness continued to think a shrill screech broke her from her thoughts. The dragoness looked around her quickly remembering she was in a dangerous area. The dragoness quickly spotted an ape that was jumping towards her from a nearby rooftop. The ape was already too close to her to simply turn her head. Azshea instead flipped her body around and let loose a torrent of fire. The ape yelped in surprise before becoming completely engulfed in the flames.

Azshea flipped herself over again and gave a few quick flaps of her wings in order to steady herself again. The dragoness was now on full alert. She quickly scanned the alleys below here and almost immediately spotted two lone dragons younger than her surrounded by apes. The dragoness hissed and tucked in her wings. The dragoness gained speed as she aimed herself at one of the apes. As she closed in she curled into a ball and spun herself.

The two dragons cowered in fear as the apes approached them each of the apes jumping up and down, while hooting eager for dragon blood. One of the apes stopped though as he heard a whistling sound. He looked up and gave a surprised hoot before being smashed into the ground by the diving dragoness. The other apes howled in surprise as the dragoness jumped up from the smoldering crater she had made. With a roar of fury the dragoness charged forward tackling one ape, and sending him flying into a nearby wall, where he crumpled to the ground.

One of the apes jumped towards the dragoness thinking that she wasn't paying attention. As he closed in, falling through the air towards her the dragoness quickly spun around to face him. With a large intake of air Azshea exhaled a surge of fire that incinerated the ape. When his body fell from the flames its front was as black as ash. For good measure the dragoness picked up the body in her jaws and flung it across the alley to land on the first ape.

When the dragoness turned back to the last ape it yelped and ran away with its arms waving wildly. Azshea smirked before turning to back to the two scared dragons. The two looked up at her with wide scared eyes. "It's okay, you're safe-

The dragoness growled in pain to suppress her yelp. She looked down to her left shoulder to see that it was bleeding badly. "I knew I was off a bit on that dive." She whispered to herself.

"Come on you two we have to get you home. Do you know the way?" Azshea asked the dragons.

The little dragons nodded and began to get up. As they did there was a crash followed by crazed hoots and howls. Azshea looked behind her to see three apes appear from behind a turn in the alley. Each of them were attacking a large earth dragon with their crude bone weapons.

Azshea felt the rage within her. Suddenly, the earth dragon lying on the ground with wounds covering his body seemed to morph. His features melding to take on those of her father. Tears welled up in Azshea's eyes and flames fell from her mouth as the temperature around her rose. "Stay here you two I'll be right back." She said before calmly walking off.

The dragon that the apes had been attack had stopped moving minutes ago but the rudimentary creatures continued to beat away at the large beast. Azshea stopped her gait and without any warning she unleashed her breath attack. With her rage fueling the flames they quickly grew into enormous spiraling fireballs. The three apes each looked up in horror only to be swallowed up by the rampant fire.

As the flames died down the dragoness panted heavily. She felt drained after the attack but she had viewed it as a necessity. The dragoness turned back to the two smaller dragons. Her limp from her shoulder wound was now quiet obvious, although the blood could hardly be seen against her crimson scales. The dragoness' head started to spin. Her blood was flowing freely now the wound having been opened more by the strenuous attack. The dragoness didn't realize she had been knocked to the ground before it was too late. She hardly registered the ape's crude weapon that hit her in the head knocking the last vestiges of consciousness from her.

The two dragons walked into the grand house and into the common room. Upon entering they found all three guardians sitting on large pillows waiting contentedly. Sparx immediately fluttered over to Spyro and Cynder.

"It is good to see you back and safe young dragons." Terrodar said smiling.

"It is unfortunate that the party turned out the way it did." Volteer added sadly.

"Don't worry about it, you all had good intentions. That black dragon is the one to blame." Spyro said.

"Speaking of that black dragon would either of you know who he was?" Cyril asked, his eyes shifting between the two. Both dragons shook their heads; neither of them had ever seen another black dragon.

"I thought I was the only black dragon Malefor had ever enslaved." Cynder said.

"Maybe you were just the first; once he saw how effective you were he created more." Terrodar said. The words seemed to pluck at Cynder's heart and she turned her head to the floor.

"Hey, remember that wasn't you Cynder." Spyro said quietly hoping to put the dragoness' mind at ease.

"Yeah, I know it's just…hard." She said looking up. With a deep breath she looked back to the guardians. "Is there any other possibility? There are some dragons that are born with natural black scales."

"A personal vendetta perhaps?" Volteer asked he looked at the two dragons astounded that they could make someone dislike them that much.

"I don't think so; I've never seen him before." Spyro said. "Cynder?"

"Nope, I've never seen him either." The dragoness replied.

"Then he must be a dark dragon, perhaps a servant still loyal to Malefor." Cyril said.

"But, Malefor is dead, why would he fight for a leader who is no longer alive." Spyro asked cocking his head to one side.

"Some dragons are stubborn; they always think that they are right no matter what has happened. I imagine this is, in fact, one of Malefor's minions and that he is attacking the two of you because you are the ones that killed his master." Terrodar said.

Spyro and Cynder looked at each other. "It never ends does it?" Spyro said. Cynder smirked in response. "Oh, come on Spyro how much trouble could one dragon cause?"

"Well, we did beat Malefor how tough could one kid be?" Spyro said thinking back to those final moments of their fight with Malefor.

"Don't be brash remember a long time ago Malefor was just one kid." Cyril said.

"What about the city what do the people think of this situation?" Cynder asked.

"They don't know anything about it. Right now there are only rumors floating around Warfang. The people only saw a dragon attack both of you they don't know anything else about what is going on." Volteer explained.

"Are you going to tell them about this? They need to know it's their right." Spyro said somewhat angrily.

"Calm down young one." Terrodar said. "You forget it is not our place to tell them, not anymore. The new guardians can proclaim to the dragons what has happened. All you need to do is tell them the threat."

"That means we are going to have to deal with Blaze again." Cynder said as she turned to Spyro. The purple dragon scowled at the mention of the fire guardian's name.

"We have to talk to him and the other guardians too. Who knows maybe Tera with help us out." Spyro said referring to earth dragoness they had met earlier that day.

"Either way they can't really ignore this." Cynder said.

"For now though young dragons, why don't you both get some sleep, I'm sure you're worn out." Cyril said.

The two dragons nodded and walked off up the stairs Sparx trailing floating above them.

"So do you think we should go and find that dragon?" Spyro asked the dragoness as they lay down on a single pillow.

"I guess we have to, we need to find out what all this is about." Cynder answered.

"Alright, we can go in and kick that draogn's butt!" Sparx said punching a little fist in the air.

"Well, first we have to go talk to the guardians about it." Spyro said.

"Oh, right." Sparx said some of his excitement fading away.

"Well, first let's get some sleep." Cynder said yawning. The brothers didn't answer they just closed their eyes. The dragons fell asleep next to each other without a word. As heavy as the thoughts of another black dragon weighed on their minds they were both exhausted.

The next day the two dragons rose from their comfortable beds. After stretching out their stiff joints the dragons walked downstairs to eat breakfast with the guardians. "I assume you two are going to talk to the guardians today about the predicament with the black dragon?" Terrodar asked as they eat their food.

Spyro swallowed a piece of jerky before answering, "I suppose we should, where do you think we can find them at?"

"My guess would be at the guardian inauguration today." Cyril said simply.

"What? Their inauguration is today?" Cynder exclaimed almost choking on her food.

"Yes, these are the last hours of our years as guardians." Volteer said. "Seemed to go by rather quickly." He added.

"I don't think anything has ever gone by slowly for him." Sparx said quietly. The two dragons withheld their laughter as the guardians looked at them.

"Then I guess we will find them there and tell them about all of this." Spyro said.

"Hopefully, they'll listen to reason." Cynder added.

The beginning of the day passed rather uneventfully. At noon the dragons left their home and walked the streets towards the dragon temple. As they walked along many other dragons went in the same direction as them. Many of the dragons that did pass stared at them suspiciously. The events from the other day had put many on edge and the rumors had only made everyone uneasy.

The five dragons reached the temple after a short walk. Once there they realized just how many dragons lived in Warfang. The entire area in front of the temple was filled with dragons. Event the steps could hardly be seen because so many had piled onto them. Those who could not get to the ground level sat on rooftops and some even flew above the area.

"Come on we should head up to the front." Terrodar said. When he saw that Spyro and Cynder weren't following he quickly added. "I was talking to you two also."

"Terrodar we aren't guardians, we have no reason to be up there." Spyro answered.

"Pish-posh, you too aren't exactly normal dragons; we can make an exception, just stand off to the side." Volteer said. Spyro and Cynder nodded and continued on behind the older dragons.

The five dragons slowly made their way through the crowds most of the dragons moving out of their way so that they could pass easily. Once they made it up the steps the five dragons lined up with Spyro and Cynder standing off to the side.

The new guardians were already lined up near to the center of the of the top step. Once she saw them Blaze glared at the two dragons who in turn narrowed their eyes at him. Tera on the other hand looked over to them with a smile which forced the two dragons to break their stare and smile back. Once the silent formalities had passed Spyro and Cynder looked to the other guardians that they had never seen. An ice dragoness stood between Blaze and Tera. She had a lithe body that was a pale blue hue. White spots speckled her scales matching her crest and wings. Her talons were black the stark contrast catching the two off-guard. As they continued to look in her direction she turned her forest green eyes on them. The two dragons cringed slightly expecting some hostile retort. Instead the dragoness threw a smile there way and the dragons could only smile back.

After the dragoness broke contact the two sighed with relief. Finally, they looked to the far end of the guardian line to the young lightning dragon that stood with almost perfect posture. His golden scales gleamed in the afternoon sun. His blue leathery wings lay at his sides. The dragons layered crest was stark black. Spyro and Cynder could not help but look from the young dragon to Volteer and back again. The similarities were strikingly close.

"You think Volteer has a son that we never found out about?" Spyro asked turning his head to Cynder.

The dragoness shrugged. "You're asking the wrong dragoness. You've known him longer than I have."

Their conversation was cut short as Terrodar's booming voice cut the air. "Citizens of Warfang, and welcomed guests, we have gathered you all here today for reasons that you obviously know." The earth dragon paused to look around at the crowd waiting for the last dragons to settle down. "You have come here for the guardian inauguration. We shall not disappoint, but there is one other matter to deal with first." The earth guardian glanced over at Spyro and Cynder. Feeling the guardian's eyes on them the two stiffened, even Sparx let his altitude drop a bit.

"As you all know Ignitus is no longer with us." The earth dragon continued. "He fell during the final hours of the war with Malefor. If you all would join me I would like to take a few moments to honor the fire guardian's sacrifice."

As all the dragons lowered their heads in respect. Spyro held back his own tears. "Are you okay?" He heard Cynder whisper. He looked down to see her paw on his, a small gesture of comfort but the only one she could make at this time.

Spyro nodded slowly after a long pause. "It's just hard, when you lose someone you love." Cynder nodded at the dragons words not knowing what else she could say.

Spyro's head rose up again and he noticed Terrodar looking at him slyly. The purple dragon nodded a silent thanks to the earth dragon. Terrodar only blinked and raised his own head as well.

After the other dragons looked up as well the earth dragon continued. "Now, it is time to induct these young ones into the order of guardians!" As he finished his sentence all three guardians stepped forward in sync. The three stop only a few feet from the younger dragons.

"Young dragons you have all been chosen as the next guardians." Volteer began. The young dragons stayed silent. From Spyro's point of view the three younger dragons appeared as if they were no bigger than whelps when standing next to the tower guardians.

"You have been chosen by the dragons of all the communities in this world. You have all been deemed worthy of this title. Now we ask you one final time, do you accept?" Cyril asked the four. The young dragons all answered as if with one voice. "Yes, I accept this duty."

"Then turn and face your people, as Guardians!" Terrodar proclaimed before stepping back with Volteer and Cyril. The four dragons turned in a line all of them facing the crowd, who was now cheering.

"Well that's it." Sparx said.

"Yeah, the end of an era." Spyro answered.

"Oh, come on. It's not like their gone. They just aren't in charge anymore." Cynder said.

"Yeah, now he is." Spyro said thrusting his head towards Blaze. Cynder half-scowled at the dragon.

"He isn't the only guardian Spyro. We've only talked the dragon a few times; maybe he's not that bad." Cynder reasoned. Spyro and Sparx couldn't help but roll their eyes at the dragoness. "Well, at least there are three other guardians to keep him in line." Cynder resigned with a shrug.

As the friends continued their conversation the guardians walked over slowly. Spyro was lucky enough to look up and stop talking about the new fire guardian before he was in earshot.

"Ah, my two favorite dragons." Blaze said as he approached, his voice dripping with sarcasm. When no one responded he continued talking, "I assume that you didn't come here just to see me inaugurated."

He heard a low growl as he finished his sentence and shifted his head to look at the others. Tera was scowling at him. "Oh, right, to see _us _inaugurated." He said, putting emphasis on the word.

"So like I said, what do you want to talk to us about?" Blaze asked.

Spyro quickly glanced to Cynder who nodded before stepping forward. "Blaze we need to talk you about what happened yesterday."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This is just for people who didn't see the other AN since I changed it after you all read the second chapter. I just want to say that I would appreciate any sort of feedback just to know if people like this story or not. Enjoy!**

The fire dragoness cracked her eyes open. The daylight streamed in and she quickly shut them again. As her mind began to settle down the dragoness opened her eyes again, slowly this time letting them adjust to the light. Azshea saw that once again she was in her large room.

The dragoness groaned as she slowly rose off what she now realized was a large pillow. As she started to get her paws under her, she yelped as they were quickly knocked away and she fell down on the pillow with a groan. The dragoness turned her head to look around her room. Her eyes came to rest on her mother standing over her, eyes glaring darkly. The younger dragoness growled showing her fangs but was quickly silenced as her mother's sharp tail spade came to rest at her chest, poised to kill.

"What are you doing?" The dragoness asked in what sounded like a feeble voice.

"Teaching you a lesson." Ashe growled simply and moved her tail spade back before plunging it forward. The younger dragoness' eyes widened but she couldn't even begin to move before she felt a stabbing pain near her forearm. The young dragoness roared in pain as her own mother jerked her, now bloodied, tail blade out from her flesh, opening the wound wider. Azshea's eyes watered from the pain and as she fought of the invading blackness she looked up to her mother questioningly.

"There, hopefully you will learn from your mistake." The dragoness said a solemn note in her voice.

"What was my mistake?" The dragoness asked through clenched teeth, her sorrow being replaced with anger.

"Your mistake, was not obeying my orders to stay here. Instead, you ran out to play hero and ended up almost dead! If it wasn't for Lum you would be dead right now." The dragoness yelled, nodding her head to another dragon, who was standing off to the side.

Azshea hadn't noticed him until then but now looked upon the adult lightning dragon with a grateful smile. Ashe noticed her daughter looking at the adult and turned to leave the room. Once she had left earshot the lightning dragon approached Azshea rather quickly, a worried look on his features.

"Are you alright?" He asked simply, looking painfully upon the fresh wound on Azshea's right shoulder.

The dragoness winced as she moved to a standing position. "She looked down at the wound that was now bleeding down her side. The dragoness shrugged, "Its fine."

Lum shook his head and some static ran down his figure. "No, you're not, let me bandage you up." Before the little fire dragoness could respond the lightning dragon had retrieved a few bandages from a nearby cabinet. As the dragon returned and began to wrap the wound.

"Not that I am ungrateful, but what are you doing here?" Azshea asked looked to the dragon inquisitively.

"As you know I saved you." The dragoness nodded, bidding him to continue. "Before I arrived though you saved my children." The dragon explained.

Azshea gasped. "They were your children?" She asked in almost a whisper.

Lum nodded. "I thank you Azshea for without you my children would be gone from me. I figured the best thing I could do was see if you were okay so I stayed here to watch you." The dragon said, causing Azshea to look away not used to praise. "If you ever need anything please ask. I should go though I think that your mother may still want to have words with you." Lum said as he stood up and walked towards the door. Azshea only watched him go at a loss for words. She could hardly believe that she had made a difference. Suddenly, the pain from her wounds left her and was replaced with a feeling of accomplishment.

"And Azshea," The lightning dragon said, catching the dragoness' attention. "Never stop fighting no matter which form that fighting takes. Look what it did for you today and for me as well." With those words the dragon left the room.

Azshea watched him go; once he was gone she looked to the floor. "If only my mother thought like you." She whispered to herself. The dragoness slowly moved her broken body across the room to a different pillow for the first now had blood on it. As she lay down her mother entered the room again.

"Azshea I- Ashe paused when she noticed the new bandage across her forearm. Flame tufts shot from her nostrils, and Azshea tried in vain to ready herself incase her mother would attack again.

"I knew that fool Lum would help you." The dragoness paused for a moment before continuing. "It doesn't matter." Ashe said finally. "Azshea tomorrow we are leaving for Warfang, we are the emissaries that are to meet the new guardians. You are coming with me so that you may see an alternative to your brutish tactics." Azshea only glared at her mother too infuriated with her mother's actions to say anything.

"If you continue to give me that look I'll give you a matching scar." Ashe said threateningly raising her tail blade and narrowing her eyes until they were just slits. Azshea removed the anger from her facial features, knowing that at the moment she had no defense against the older dragoness. As soon as her expression dropped, Ashe walked from the room. Azshea in turn fell on the pillow, immediately falling into a deep sleep.

"What do we need to talk about?" Blaze asked the purple dragon, as if disgusted at having to be civil to the dragon.

Spyro took a deep breath swallowing his anger. "You know what happened yesterday don't you?" The dragon asked.

"Um, you had a party, good for you." Blaze said, feigning ignorance.

As Spyro ground his teeth, Cynder stepped up next to him. "We were attacked Blaze." She said darkly.

Blaze took a step back. The black dragoness still didn't sit comfortably with him. While this normally would have bothered Cynder in this case she didn't care. "And you want me to tell you that everything is alright?" Blaze asked, cocking his head.

"Enough Blaze!" Tera snapped, stepping up by the fire guardian. The fire guardian sneered at her but she ignored him and addressed Spyro instead. "What do you think was so important about the attack?"

"We think there may be more of the dragons. Remnants of Malefor's army hoping to finish what the Dark Master couldn't." Spyro explained, happy to finally talk to someone else. The other dragons, besides Srix the lightning guardian, flinched slightly at the notion.

"Do you have any sort of proof?" Blaze asked, although he managed to keep up his disinterested demeanor.

"Well, no not really." Cynder answered.

"Then what- Blaze started to say but Cynder cut him off. "He told us to meet him in Avalar."

"We want you four to come with us, to see this for yourself." Spyro explained. "You are the new guardians so we think you should know."

"Alright, let's go then." Tera said, stepping forward.

"No."

Everyone's eyes fell on Srix. The lightning dragon was staring intently at Spyro and it seemed to the purple dragon that the eyes were slicing through him.

"What? Why?" Tera asked distressed by what the lightning guardian had said.

"We are guardians now; we can't just go out to inspect something on any dragon's whim." The guardian said, in a monotone.

"This isn't any dragon though, this is Spyro and Cynder. They, you know saved the world a few weeks ago, not really ordinary." Tera reasoned in a sarcastic tone. Spyro and Cynder shied away a bit from the complements.

"I don't care I'm not going." Srix said, and walked away from the group without a word.

"I'm with him." Blaze said, simply before turning to follow the lightning guardian.

"Big surprise there." Sparx said to himself more than anyone around him.

"What about you Krista, you believe them don't you?" Tera asked the ice guardian who had not said a word yet. The ice dragoness looked up as if distracted by her own private thoughts.

"Oh, I am sorry Tera but the guardians need to all make decisions together if we split on things people will see us as weak. I am going with Blaze and Srix, and I suggest you follow."

The dragoness walked away from them then. Tera watched her go and with a quick shake of her head followed them sadly. Spyro and Cynder stood motionless.

"Please tell me you two actually expected them to come." Sparx said, floating behind them with his arms crossed.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting much, especially with Blaze around." Cynder said staring at the fire guardian who was still walking away from them.

"Well I guess all we can do is to go there ourselves." Spyro shrugged.

The other two nodded, and the three lifted into the air making a course for Avalar. The old guardians watched them go. 'What do you think they are up to?" Terrodar asked his friends.

"They probably didn't tell us something, and are now rushing off into danger." Volteer deduced.

Cyril sighed. "Ah, to be young again."

Astir sat on an overhang near the oracles cave home. The old cheetah seemed to be out at the moment, even if he wasn't Astir didn't care. The black dragon sat on the cliff patiently. He had told Spyro and Cynder to meet him at this spot. It was almost a whole day later, but the dark dragon knew the two would not disappoint him. The black dragon smiled to himself. A noise interrupted him private thoughts and he turned his head to address it.

Behind him another black dragoness landed lightly on the ground, as if she was made of air. The black dragoness was the same age his him and quite beautiful. Her onyx scales shimmered in the sun. Her crest was a deep blue, almost indigo, while her wings maintained a lighter shade of blue, seeming similar to the sky. Two white horns protruded from her forehead. On her side was a strange birthmark consisting of crescents and diamonds, forming a wicked pattern. Her tail ended in a cruel looking blade that consisted of two dagger like blades. Astir noticed the blade quivering and he drew his wandering eyes back to her forest green orbs.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" The dragoness asked, feeling the dragons roaming eyes.

For a moment Astir considered telling her what he was really thinking, but quickly shook the thought from his head. As attractive as the dragoness was, he could not deal with her attitude.

"Solris, don't you have more important things to do besides being here." Astir said avoiding the question all together.

"I'm supposed to be on the lookout for Spyro and Cynder." The dragoness responded.

"And yet, here you are talking to me." The dragon said annoyance clear in his voice. "What could you want now?"

Solris looked away from the dragon and for a moment did nothing more than etch small symbols into the dirt with a sharp talon. At last she spoke. "Astir, why do you want to kill these two dragons?" The dragoness asked coyly.

Astir's brow furrowed in anger and the dragoness shrank back slightly. "Do you plan to question everything that we do over and over again?" The dragon retorted with his own question.

"I just don't understand. Why do you want to kill them, and all the other dragons for that matter? No one ever tells me anything so I don't know."

Astir shook his head. "There is a reason we don't tell you anything Solris. You can't be trusted!"

"What but I've proved myself to the seven! There is no reason to keep me in the dark!" The dragoness spat back.

Astir responded with his tail instead of his words. Astir spun around snapping his tail up hit the dragoness into the dirt. With a quick roll, that took the dragoness out of range of a second blow. As the rolled ended the dragoness landed lightly in a crouched position.

"Malefor never did finish your training, and that's proving to be your weakness now!" Astir said. As he lunged forward the dragoness launched herself into the air easily dodging. Although she was in a perfect position to attack she held back. The dragoness knew it would be foolish to attack her superior. Astir however didn't hold the same thoughts. The black dragon quickly launched himself up and caught the dragoness in the air and throwing her into the hard ground below.

"We kill dragons because that is who we are! We are killing Spyro and Cynder because they are the biggest threat! You will do as we tell you and not question it!" The dragon said his voice no more than a threatening whisper. He glared at the dragoness who glared back at him. After a moment he stepped off and allowed the dragoness to get up. "Now leave, who knows when the dragons will get here."

"But I thought-

"Leave Solris if you know what's good for you." The dragon said leaving no room to argue.

The dragoness was about to respond but held her tongue. Without a word she turned and launched her aching body into the air sending gusts of wind blow around Astir. The black dragon gave the dragoness a glare, although she couldn't see it, before he turned back to view the area around him.

Spyro and Cynder flew through the air, their wings cutting through the wind, and carrying them along at a quick pace. The two dragons hardly spoke for they would have to shout over the wind to hear each other. Instead they just enjoyed each other's presence, and basked in the glorious nature that surrounded them. They were obviously getting close to the valley of Avalar. The landscape had changed to a serene forest that seemed to flow like a great green ocean in the slight breeze.

Once there was a drop in the landscape the two knew they were over the valley. As they flew along Spyro noticed a small tribal village down below. The purple dragon quickly got Cynder's attention before pointing a claw at the village. Cynder looked from him to the village and nodded to the purple dragon before closing her wings and launching herself into a steep dive, Spyro following suit with Sparx grabbing onto his horn. The dragonfly knew that he wouldn't be able to copy the dive.

The two dragons pulled up just above the village sending a gust of wind around the town alerting everyone to their presence. The cheetahs looked at the two dragons in awe, but none approached except for two figures that the dragons recognized. The first being Chieftain Prowlus and the other Hunter. Both wore large grins as they looked upon the dragons. Before the dragons could utter a greeting they both fell into a deep bow. Spyro and Cynder looked at each other somewhat surprised by their actions.

"Greetings young ones, and let me be the first to welcome you back to our humble home." Prowlus said, raising himself out of the bow.

"He sure has changed a lot." Sparx said, without the cheetahs hear him.

"Spyro, Cynder it is good to see both of you." Hunter said happily.

"Hi, Hunter it's good to see you. Chief Prowlus it's good to see you as well." Spyro said.

"So what brings you to Avalar? It is a little ways from Warfang." Hunter asked.

"We came here to meet someone." Spyro said, his face turning serious.

"Who must you meet that would make you fly to Avalar?" Prowlus asked, raising a brow inquisitively.

"A dragon that could be a danger to us all." Cynder explained ominously drawing serious looks from the cheetahs.

The cheetahs looked at each other, and then back to the dragons silently asking them to explain. Spyro and Cynder did just that explaining everything that had happened up until now. They both knew the two cheetahs to be friends and felt that they should know of the potential danger.

"I'll come with you I want to see this dragon myself." Hunter said when they finished. Before the dragons could answer, Prowlus stepped in.

"Hunter you cannot go." He said, drawing a suspicious eye from Hunter. "Hunter there are very few of us left after the war with Malefor we must maintain what little population remains."

Hunter looked from his chieftain to the dragons, and gave a resigned sigh, not knowing what he could say. "Hunter it's okay." He heard Spyro say and looked to the dragon. "Its fine we can face him ourselves."

"The last thing we would want to do is put you in danger again, not to mention put your entire species in danger." Cynder added.

The cheetah looked at both of them with a gracious smile. "Thank you both, I shall be with you in spirit." The two dragons nodded in response. "Just be careful, if something is going on it would be nice to have you two on our side."

"What about me?" Sparx asked somewhat annoyed at being left out of the conversation.

"Yes, you too Sparx, what would we do without your smart-alake comments." The cheetah said sarcastically producing a laugh from the group.

"We had better go, who knows how long the dragon will stay there." Spyro said, after they settled down.

"A safe journey then." Chief Prowlus said bowing again.

"Goodbye, it was good to see both of you again." Cynder said, before she propelled herself into the air to follow Spyro.

The two dragons continued on their way. They flew across The Valley of Avalar following the river before veering off towards some rocky crags. The pleasant environment that had surrounded them was soon replaced with the rocky dirt and ominous looking mountains.

"Where do you think he is?" Spyro asked, looking around as they slowly approached the entrance to the oracle's cave. Cynder only shook her head in response having no idea.

The two heard an eccentric laugh that sent a chill down their spines. The turned slowly to see an old cheetah standing behind them. His fur was grey and he held a knotted staff in one hand and a fresh apple in the other.

"I see that you two have returned." The oracle said.

"Yeah, but not to see you." Sparx said. "You creep me out."

The oracle laughed again causing the dragons to cringe slightly. "No matter, you have come to me, so if you are scared then leave." The oracle walked towards the dragons not stopping as he walked in between them. "I see you have faced your demons young ones. You have won for the time being but be careful a new darkness is on the horizon."

"What do you mean Cynder asked turning to face the insane cheetah who only continued to walk towards his cave.

"It approaches now, be careful." The cheetah said walking into his cave and out of sight.

"Hello you two." They heard a voice say behind them. The dragons whirled around to see Astir standing only a few feet away from them. Both of the dragons were surprised and somewhat impressed that the dragon had been able to get so close to them without their noticing.

"Alright, we're here now what do you want, dragon?" Spyro asked, his thoughts quickly shifting from the oracle to the deadly dragon that stood in front of them.

"First, I think I should introduce myself. I am Astir." The dragon said simply.

"We didn't come here for formalities." Cynder hissed.

"I suppose not." The dragon said. "Well, I promised you both an explanation so I shall give it." Spyro and Cynder stood silently waiting for the dragon to explain himself.

"I am Astir, as you now know. I am known as the one of the Seven Dragons of Darkness." The dragon explained.

"I've never heard of you." Sparx said, sarcastically. Astir looked up to the small floating bug, and his red eyes narrowed.

"I don't know what someone of your inferior species is doing here, but you had best stop talking before I kill you." Astir said, menacingly.

Spyro and Cynder fell into a ready position at the threatening words, and Sparx nearly charged the black dragon. Astir laughed, "A pitiful bunch, all of you." He said. "As for why I have come here, it is to foretell your doom, along with the doom of all the dragons of this world! We will finish what Malefor started."

Before anything more could be said the dragon leapt forward tackling Spyro. The two dragons rolled on the ground slashing and biting at each other, before Spyro kicked the dragon in his stomach and freed himself. Astir fell through the air, landing in a roll. As he came up the dragon spit bright green acid at Cynder. The dragoness' eyes grew wide, and only at the last moment did she manage to launch herself upward with a powerful beat of her wings. As the dragoness continued to ascend Astir followed her.

The two dragons quickly launched into aerial combat. They crossed each other often, swinging their deadly talons, or launching a breath attack. The two dragons were evenly matched though, and neither could get in a descent blow. Spyro watched for a moment before lifting himself into the air ready to help his friend. As the purple dragon flew up into the air he contemplated how to go about attacking the dragon. Cynder and Astir were flying back and forth, and there was no way he could get at him without harming Cynder. Spyro was snapped from his thoughts though as he saw Astir make a feint and latch onto Cynder's neck with his jaw. The dragoness roared before being tugged down by the black dragon.

The way they were falling Spyro knew that Cynder would hit first. The realization that she would probably die from the blow hit him like a brick wall, and the purple dragon quickly followed after the two. Cynder plummeted towards the ground. As they fell she felt a puff of stinging air hit her neck. The area where it touched began to sting, and the dragoness realized that Astir had spit poison onto her neck. Cynder didn't let the pain distract her thoughts though.

The dragoness quickly focused her thoughts on the task at hand. As the two dragons fell through the sky and neared the ground Cynder began to struggle less, letting Astir think that he had gotten to her. The two dragons collided with the ground.

A cloud of dust erupted from the spot and Spyro was forced to exit his dive and instead hovered in the air looking for some sign that Cynder had survived. As the dust cleared he gasped as he saw only Astir lying on the ground, looking wounded. A sudden shadow burst out from under the dragon, and Spyro realized that it was actually Cynder. The dragoness had fallen into Astir's shadow leaving the black dragon to slam into the ground.

Cynder came out of the darkness and slammed Astir with her horns sending the dragon back a few feet. Spyro saw his chance, and from the air launched a blast of fire from his jaw. As the cone of orange fire neared Astir, the black dragon barely managed to roll out of the way. The dragon looked on the purple dragon with scorn, and even from the air Spyro could see those seething orbs glaring at him.

Astir cut short his stare though and launched himself into the air. The dragon flew away from the two quicker than Spyro had seen any dragon fly. The purple dragon was about to follow when he looked down to Cynder who was standing on unsteady legs. Assuming the worst the dragon dropped down next to his friend. "Cynder are you okay?" He asked his voice full of fear.

"I-I think so." The dragoness stuttered. Spyro inspected the dragoness and quickly noticed a burnt patch on her neck. The deadly poison going to work on the dragoness. It had caused some of her scales to shrivel up and fall off revealing the soft skin underneath. Even now that skin was becoming irritated and peeling slightly. Spyro had no doubt that eventually it would work its way into her bloodstream.

"Cynder we have to get you back to Warfang. They can help you." Spyro said.

The black dragoness nodded in response as Spyro supported her.

Azshea cracked her eyes open slowly. The dragoness quickly came to and got up off of her pillow. Her body immediately shuddered, her fresh injuries screamed out in pain. The dragoness ignored the pain though as she walked around her room trying to wake herself up.

"Azshea it's time to go." She heard a voice say which the dragoness immediately identified as her mother.

Azshea turned to face her, and only nodded, the recent memories of what her own mother had done flashing through her mind.

"Well, are you coming?" Ashe asked, walking forward towards the dragoness.

"Let's go." The dragoness said, turning for the balcony.

Ashe said nothing but followed her daughter out onto the balcony before lifting off alongside her. The two dragons began the flight to Warfang. Azshea felt her body ache every time she moved her wings but refused to say anything. The dragoness would put up with the pain. In those moments the dragoness truly didn't know what to do. She hated her mother for what she had done, and yet her she was flying alongside her. Many thoughts swirled around in the dragoness' mind; she knew that she had to do something to change her relationship with her mother but what she could do she had no idea.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Just a quick AN. First thanks for the all the reviews, it would be great if we could keep those coming but that's up to you guys. Second just a heads up I'm sorry if the story seems kind of choppy at the end. Anyway enjoy!**

Spyro and Cynder walked through the forest. The trees were green and full covering both the dragons in constant shade. The two moved along slowly Spyro staying close to Cynder who was walking at a slower pace. The poisonous injury on her neck, where the scales had fallen away had turned a sickly green color. The wound appeared to be causing her a lot of irritation but Spyro didn't know what he could do to quell the pain.

"Cynder." He said feebly to the dragoness.

At the sound of her name the black dragoness turned towards the purple dragon. "What is it Spyro?" The dragoness asked.

After a moment the purple dragon shook his head. "It's just that-

"Spyro it wasn't your fault." Cynder said cutting him off.

"But you-

"We fought Astir and we both knew that we could get injured. This time I just came out a little worse for wear. I'll be fine you'll see." Cynder smiled trying to calm the dragon but only managed a grimace as she agitated the wound again.

"Come on Cynder, let's keep going." Spyro said, fortifying his resolve by telling himself that he had to get the dragoness to safety. He nuzzled Cynder who had let her head droop slightly. The poison had obviously been taking its effect. Spyro gave the dragoness a reassuring smile before leading the way on through the trees.

The two dragons continued on their slow walk. Spyro knew that they were close to Warfang. Before they had stopped their flight, due to Cynder's condition, he had seen the great stone walls of Warfang. The dragon continued to navigate through the twisted trunks and fallen branches that littered the forest floor, always trying to pick the easiest path. As the two dragons walked slowly through the woods Spyro heard the sound of a branch cracking. It wasn't until then that the dragon noticed that the forest was extremely quiet. There were no noises to be heard.

"Hey did you hear that?" Spyro asked, turning back to his friends.

"Hear what? There isn't anything to hear." Sparx answered. At the words Cynder's head poked up and her eyes grew wide.

"You think someone's watching us." Cynder asked, her voice lowering to a whisper.

"I know someone's-

Spyro began to say before a large ape jumped from its hiding spot onto his back. The ape raised its savage blade high ready to strike down the purple dragon before he could react.

Cynder was quicker though seeing the ape make his jump. The dragoness let loose one of her elements. Black flames swirled around the ape causing him to screech in pain before Spyro flung the burning body from his back. As he looked up to thank the dragoness he saw another ape about to pounce on Cynder from behind. Before he could explain Spyro leapt forward and over Cynder catching the ape in midflight. Spyro quickly moved his jaws to the ape's neck and clamped his teeth down. Once he heard a sickening crunch he let up his grip and turned back to Cynder who had a bewildered look on her face.

"I guess we aren't alone." Spyro said, scanning the area around them where he could see the outlines of apes. As if in response yelps and growls echoed all around them. Spyro and Cynder put their backs to each other getting ready to fight.

"Didn't we kill all the apes?" Cynder asked.

"Apparently not, but I don't think this is the best time to discuss it." Spyro answered, as he saw an ape jump down from a nearby tree and charge him.

The thin golden scaled dragon shook his head in disbelief. "Have you completely lost it?" He asked electricity jumping around on his jagged horns.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." The large intimidating black dragon responded with a smirk.

"Don't you get it?" The yellow dragon roared. His anger channeled his element and the sky overhead grew cloudy and grey, with thunder and lightning erupting occasionally from the clouds. The black dragon only stood quietly in place ignoring the thunderstorm and the yellow dragon.

"You're working for Malefor! He tried to destroy the planet!" The dragon yelled while he displayed his sunburst colored wings hoping to intimidate the larger dragon.

The only response he got was a laugh. "Aegis, _you_ don't get it." The black dragon stepped towards the lightning dragon threateningly. "How do you know that you aren't wrong? How do you know that I'm right, and that this is the right thing to do? Are you so sure that you know what's right for his world?" As the black dragon walked forward Aegis continued to step back.

"It's not too late. You could still join us. Aegis?" The black dragon's voice had taken on a calmer tone and almost sounded soothing to the lightning dragon.

"N-no, I know I'm right. What you are doing is wrong." Aegis said, steadying his green orbs on the dragon.

"It's a pity to see dragons wasted. I had hoped that you would come with me Aegis." The dragon paused to look at the sky. "You seem to show great promise." The black dragon said. Almost before the words left his mouth the black dragon charged forward.

Aegis barely had a chance to roll out of the way. As the dragon completed his roll he immediately launched himself vertically to avoid a cone of black flames. As Aegis reached the peak of his rise he had to duck out of the way of another fire blast. The dragon hit the ground rolling, as he got his paws under him lightning crackled between his teeth before forking out in multiple directions to strike the black dragon.

The dragon stood firm and took the blow, easily shaking off the shocking pain. As Aegis gasped the black dragon grinned evilly before charging forward again. Quickly regaining himself, Aegis gave a massive bloodcurdling roar. In the midst of the noise lightning shot down from the sky and struck Aegis. The black dragon wanted to believe that the phenomenon had hurt the dragon, but bared the thought from his mind knowing better.

The energy manifested itself around the lightning dragon giving him a luminescence. As the black dragon neared the pent up energy exploded from Aegis' body. The electric wave rolled out and away from him and destroying everything in its path. As the electric pulse subsided Aegis felt his legs go weak and he fell to the ground. After a moment he managed to look around and didn't see any other dragons around. Aegis sighed and closed his eyes.

"Not tired out are we?" He heard a voice ask. Aegis' eyes shot open and a growl emanated from his maw. The dragon tried to pull himself to his feet, the electric pulse had drained almost all his energy. Aegis looked to the dragon across from him in awe. The black dragon only had a few scraps across his razor sharp scales.

The black dragon smirked before picking up the dragon in his jaws and throwing him across the field into a lone tree. Aegis hardly registered the pain in his side. The black dragon walked over to the lightning dragon who was struggling to regain his footing. When the dragon reached him he swung his tail smashing Aegis to the ground once again. "Looks like you aren't as strong as I thought."

The yellow dragon turned his head slightly so that he could see the dragon again. "R-Reave." He stuttered and coughed slightly.

The black dragon smirked again, and bent down close to the dragon. "I'm sorry Aegis but you had your chance." After he finished his sentence he turned and left the lightning dragon to die.

Ashe and Azshea slowly glided down to one of the high walls of Warfang. The elder dragoness landed lightly on her feet as if she was an angelic presence. Azshea on the other hand touched down rather roughly and stumbled before regaining her balance, her wounds from the previous day were still fresh and inhibiting her. A sudden chuckle made her turn her head towards her mother who was laughing at her, and making no motion to cover the noise.

"What is it?" Azshea growled while narrowing her eyes.

Ashe stopped her laughter and her face suddenly became serious. "I just thought you would be a better flyer by now."

"I am, but if you'll remember you stabbed me, I kind of hurts to fly now." The dragoness retorted angrily.

The older dragoness snorted. "That's no excuse." The two dragons locked eyes giving each other death stares.

"Excuse me." A stern voice said. The two dragoness's broke their stare to look over towards the newcomer. "Civilians aren't allowed up here." A large blue dragon wearing shining armor, said calmly.

"Oh, sorry we-

Ashe cut her daughter off before she could finish. "Excuse me, but we aren't civilians." The dragoness said in a snide tone.

"Oh, and who are you?" The dragon asked already annoyed.

"I happen to be the emissary from Syrinal." The adult dragoness said, naming her home town.

The guard raised an eyebrow. "I should care why?" He asked.

Ashe growled showing her teeth. The guard was getting on her nerves. "Come on mom let's just go." Azshea said, breaking her thoughts.

Ashe glared at the smaller dragoness, causing her to shut her mouth and take a few steps back. "You should listen to your daughter." The guard continued smugly.

Ashe growled again and Azshea noticed her tail blade quivering. The metal blade twitched rapidly and clattered on the stone rampart. The noise drew the attention of the guard and he moved his head to stare down at it. Ashe smiled evilly and her tail blade shot through the air like a snake. The guard gasped seeing the deadly blade speeding towards him. As the guard reared his head back in surprise Azshea reacted quicker, having known her mother for a long time she almost saw this coming. The dragoness leapt on top of her mother's tail slowing it.

The unexpected burden caused Ashe to turn and see her daughter on her tail. The mother growled as the weak dragoness held on to her tail tightly. Azshea did manage to look up at her mother with pleading eyes. "Mom, don't do it."

Ashe hissed at the dragoness. "You cannot tell me what to do!" With a quick whip of her tail she sent the dragoness tumbling off. Ashe gave a snort and then lifted off from the wall flying towards the temple.

The guard stared at Azshea wide eyed. The dragoness slowly pulled herself to her feet. When she saw the dragon she smiled at him not knowing what to say.

"Why do you continue to follow her?" The guard asked, cocking his head to one side.

At first Azshea thought the question was quite rude but then gave it some thought. She had never really considered a thought like that. The dragoness shrugged after a moment. "She's my mother." Even as she said the words they sounded hollow even to her.

"That wouldn't be enough if I were treated like that." The guard said. Azshea only shook her head and flew away not having any words to argue with.

Spyro reared back his head and let a bolt of lightning shoot forth. The yellow energy flew between three of the apes causing them to convulse before falling over. The purple dragon looked behind him to see how Cynder was fairing against the mob of vicious apes. The dragoness spun around letting her powerful tail trail her. Cynder's tail snapped across and tripped up two apes, her tail blade slicing the first. As she completed her spin she breathed a stream of shadow fire at the two apes, ensuring their demise.

"Where are they all coming from?" Spyro asked while ducking the swing of one particularly sharp axe.

"My guess is Astir had something to do with it." Cynder said vaulting over Spyro to mangle the ape with her claws.

"Spyro on your left!" Sparx shouted desperately.

Spyro swung around and without even considering his action breathed a white hot stream of fire, charring the ape that was approaching him.

"Alright this is getting ridiculous." Cynder said, as she sliced through an ape with her tail blade. The dragoness stood still and took in a deep breath. Almost a split second later her turquoise eyes glowed crimson and she opened her maw to release a physic scream that penetrated the heart of every ape in the vicinity. Spyro and Sparx even felt chills run down their spines as the sound resonated around them. Within seconds the apes were running from them scrambling over each other to get away.

After the sound had resided Sparx turned to Spyro and let out a whistle. "Don't get on her bad side Spyro; you wouldn't want to face one of those."

Spyro rolled his eyes at the dragonfly before turning to look at Cynder. "Cynder that was…" The dragon trailed off as he saw the dragoness lying on her side. "Cynder!" Spyro yelled running over to her. When he neared her he saw that she was still breathing.

"Cynder?" He asked again, quietly this time.

"I-I'm okay." The dragoness said after a long pause. The dragoness took a deep breath trying to regain her strength. "I just haven't done that in a while." She said putting on a half smile.

Spyro smiled back and helped the dragoness to her feet. He grimaced when he saw the infected patch of skin on the dragoness' neck. Cynder noticed his look and tilted her head asking the obvious question.

"It's not that bad." Spyro lied trying to comfort his friend.

"I don't need to be pampered." Cynder said catching on to the dragon's facial features.

Spyro shrugged and shook his head. "You know me too well Cynder. Well, you're right it looks like its getting worse."

"All the more reason to get going." Sparx said interrupting the two by flying near to their faces.

The dragons didn't argue and the three moved off once again. It didn't take them long to reach the walls of Warfang. The two dragons looked up along the high wall of Warfang.

"Think you can get over it?" Spyro asked looking over to the dragoness.

Cynder's whole figure looked worn out. Her eyes even appeared to be dulling slightly and the shimmer had nearly left her scales. Despite all the signs Cynder looked over to Spyro and said, "Yeah, I think I'll be able to pull it off." The dragoness said in a weak voice.

Spyro smiled and gave the dragoness a quick peck on the lips. "For luck." He said smiling sheepishly. Cynder smiled back at him. She couldn't help but feel comforted by the dragon's actions. After the brief contact broke Cynder quickly shot herself skyward, using her power over the wind to propel her higher.

Spyro and Sparx felt the heavy breeze spin around them as the dragoness left. Spyro was about to follow suit when Sparx stopped him. "You love her don't you?" The dragonfly asked bluntly. Spyro watched the dragoness ascend higher before answering.

"More than you know Sparx." He responded simply before lifting off with his powerful wings.

Sparx shook his head. "Yeah, should have seen that coming a mile away." He said to himself before following his brother.

The three made it to the top of the wall Cynder landing first followed by Spyro and then Sparx. The two dragons scanned Warfang in the late afternoon light. "Any idea where the clinic is?" Spyro asked the two.

Before Cynder could respond they heard a clanking noise and saw a large blue dragon in metal armor approach them. "Twice in one day." He grumbled hardly looking up. "Hey civilians aren't allowed…" The dragon trailed off as he saw who was standing before him. "Up here." He finished slowly.

"Hi, we're looking for the clinic, you wouldn't happen to know where it is would you?" Spyro asked the now hesitant dragon.

"Uh, uh yeah it's over there, the tall building with the pointed roof." The ice dragon stuttered pointing a claw towards one of the city buildings.

"Thanks." Cynder said poking her head out so that the guard could see who was talking. In response he gasped again he had been so focused on Spyro he hadn't noticed Cynder.

As the guard continued to stare blankly at the two dragons Spyro spoke up. "Right well thanks we'll go now." As the dragons hopped over the wall and glided towards the clinic the guard just shook his head.

Spyro and Cynder landed right by the clinic. Spyro touched down lightly and as he looked back he saw Cynder stumbling as she landed. The dragon quickly reached out a paw to steady her. The dragoness smiled gratefully and let Spyro help her along into the clinic. Inside the medical building Srali sat tending to a small dragon who appeared to have hurt his paw. Te little earth dragon looked watched the older dragoness wrap his paw in a bandage.

"Alright now remember next time you practice your element don't drop the rock on your paw." The dragoness smiled. The small earth dragon turned his paw tentatively. When he found it didn't hurt a huge grin spread across his face.

"Thanks Srali!" The dragon exclaimed happily hopping off the chair. "I'll be more careful next time I-

The dragon stopped talking as he backed into Spyro's leg. The earth dragon spun around and looked up in awe at the two dragons. Srali's attention was also caught by the two, but she said nothing.

"You're the dragons who stopped Malefor." The little dragon said in a whisper. Spyro and Cynder couldn't help but smile at the comment.

Before the dragon could start asking questions Srali cut him off. "Baelor why don't you run along and find your friends, I think these two could use some help." The dragon nodded silently. He moved slowly out of the room not taking his eyes off the two for a second causing him to almost run into the doorframe.

After the dragon had left Srali turned her attention back to the two. "What happened this time? Another evil dragon out to get you?" She asked while motioning for Cynder to come over.

"Same dragon as before." Sparx pointed out.

"I swear you two are magnets for trouble." The dragoness said while inspecting the poisoned part of skin on Cynder's neck.

After a few moments of silence Spyro decided to open his mouth. "Is Cynder going to be okay Srali?" He asked in a nervous voice. In response Srali moved her eyes away from the sickly wound to look at Spyro. Her eyes flicked between the two dragons quickly.

"What is it?" Cynder asked.

"Nothing." Srali said after a moment. "She's going to be fine. Cynder your body seems to have a natural ability to fight off poison, if you didn't have this you would be dead by now. While the infection is only on the surface it could still kill you. Luckily, Spyro got you here fast enough." The dragoness paused for a second before adding. "He must really be fond of you."

The two dragons opened their eyes wide at the comment. They made brief eye contact before turning away each of them blushing slightly.

Srali chuckled to herself and Sparx joined in while the two dragons stood nervously in the room. "Anyway, we have something for your infection right here." Srali said pulling out a small container of gel. "Since the poison hasn't had time to really grow yet this should be a onetime thing." As the dragoness spread the gel across the sore spot she continued. "If the infection doesn't go away come back and we can try something else."

"Alright, thanks Srali." Cynder said her mind still focused on the previous comment.

The dragons said their goodbyes and walked from the room. The two dragons quietly made their way from the clinic back to the guardian's house. When the two walked in they found the three guardians all sitting around the room reading.

"Do you guys do anything anymore?" Sparx asked as they entered the house.

"Sparx!" Spyro scolded quickly.

To his surprise the three guardians laughed. "It's our day off." Terrodar said unperturbed by the dragonfly's comment.

"After so many years of duty we could use it too." Cyril added.

"Enough about us though, Spyro, Cynder, what happened to you?" The elder dragons asked.

"Let's see." Sparx started counting on his fingers. "We got attacked by Astir, the dark dragon. Cynder got poisoned. Apes attacked us. Things got really complicated. Then we came back here." The dragonfly smiled feeling that he had explained the situation perfectly.

The elders didn't know what to say so they instead turned to Spyro. "That about sums it up." The dragon sighed, answering the unasked question.

"Spyro I think they want to hear it in detail." Cynder said with a smirk.

"Right well, we left Warfang during the guardian inauguration…"

"This Astir seems to be stirring up trouble." Volteer said, once Spyro finished his story.

"More than trouble, I think he wants to be the next Malefor." Spyro responded.

"Then we will have to deal with him, but we can't forget about the apes either." Terrodar said. "Is it possible that they are working for him?"

"I don't see why not. They served Malefor once before, why not do it again?" Cynder answered. All the dragons stopped then to think about what might befall them. The sudden danger brought fear to their hearts. With so much to do they couldn't even begin to think about where to start. Spyro crossed the thought from his mind and looked to Cynder. He noticed the dragoness wobbling on her feet. "Cynder are you feeling alright?" He asked concern crossing his face.

The dragoness nodded. "This is just a lot to think about, and I'm not feeling that great after what happened today."

"You should both go and rest you have had a few long days." Terrodar said. The two dragons didn't argue and headed up to their room for some well earned rest.

The next day Cynder woke up in the late morning. She nudged Spyro who had fallen asleep next to him, and woke him up. "You're looking better." Spyro said through sleepy eyes.

In truth the dragoness did look better than she had yesterday. The dullness had left her scales and her body looked as fit as it had a few days ago. Even the infection on her neck was nearly gone. "I feel better too." She added stretching her body to get rid of the sleepiness. Spyro watched the dragoness with a smile on his face. He hardly paid any attention to his drifting eyes that scanned her body. "What are you smiling at Spyro?" The dragoness asked, breaking his thoughts and causing his eyes to snap to hers.

"Uh, nothing, I'm just happy to see that you're better." Spyro answered tentatively.

Cynder rolled her eyes. "Okay, do you really expect me to believe that?" The dragoness asked smiling back at Spyro.

"Uh, yeah why wouldn't you believe it?" Spyro asked, back growing more nervous by the second.

Cynder pounced on the purple dragon playfully and quickly pinned the unsuspecting dragon. "What were you doing?" She asked her voice still light and airy putting her weight down to keep the dragon from moving.

"I told you." Spyro said, trying to laugh off his uneasiness.

"You lied and you know it Spyro. Come on you can tell me." Cynder said.

The purple dragon knew he was going to have to fess up. There was no way around it. "Alright Cynder you win." Cynder leaned in waiting for her answer.

"Cynder, you aren't trying to kill Spyro are you?" Sparx asked from across the room. The dragonfly still had his eyes closed but had heard what they said and could deduce what was going on. The comment from the dragonfly caught the dragoness off guard and Spyro took his chance. The dragon quickly turned them around so that he had Cynder pinned now.

"Sparx you have great timing, has anyone ever told you that?" Cynder asked feigning annoyance.

"A lot of people actually, but more importantly shouldn't you two stop wrestling and figure out what to do about the dark dragons and all that." Sparx answered.

Spyro smiled and stepped off of Cynder allowing her to stand up next to him. "Since when are you the serious one Sparx?"

"Well when you two are distracted by each other, someone has to be serious." The dragonfly said in response.

"Shouldn't we just tell the guardians that we found Astir again?" Cynder asked simply.

"Sounds good to me. Even if they don't believe us I think we should tell them. Maybe Tera can convince the others." Spyro said hopefully.

With the plan set the three went back to the first floor of the home to eat their breakfast. They ate quickly each of them were eager to get on their way and try to fix some of the problems that had arisen before them. They left so fast that the guardians didn't even get a chance to ask them where they were going.

The two dragons flew towards the temple landing on the large set of marble steps. The dragons quickly made their way up the steps and towards the entrance. As they walked forward two large guards that stood outside the entrance suddenly dropped to ready positions.

"We have to see the guardians." Spyro said.

One of the guards looked down to him and said. "I am sorry, but no one is allowed inside. The guardians are in meetings with ambassadors from other cities and have asked that no one disturbs them."

"So when can we see them?" Cynder asked.

"The meetings will end in about a week but it may take longer than that. I'm sorry but we cannot let even the purple dragon inside." The other guard told her.

"But we have to see-

"Spyro." Cynder drew the dragon's attention with the word. "We don't want to make trouble. It wouldn't bode well, and we already aren't in the best standing with the guardians." Cynder reasoned.

Spyro looked at her with curious eyes. It seemed to him like Cynder was giving up to easily. Although he desperately wanted to get inside some innate feeling told him to go along with her. The dragon nodded. "Alright for now we'll wait."

"Come on lets head out to think about this. I know a nice place just outside the city walls. I saw it when we were heading in yesterday." Cynder said, trying to comfort the dragon a little.

"Alright let's go then." Spyro said in a resigned voice.

The two dragons quickly lifted off and flew towards the city wall. They made it there in less than a minute and quickly passed over the wall. Spyro followed as Cynder flew only several yards towards the forest before dropping down among the trees. Spyro followed her through the brush. He landed by Cynder in a small open grove. There was a small lake nearby that shimmered in the early afternoon sun. Large trees surrounded them forming a light canopy over their heads giving them partial shade.

"Wow Cynder this place is great!" Spyro exclaimed turning around to take in all sides of the view.

"I thought you would like it, and here we can talk about how we are going to get past those guards." Cynder said a mischievous smile spreading across her face.

Spyro grinned. "I knew you wouldn't give up that easily! So what do you think we should do?"

"I'm not sure but…" The dragoness trailed off as she began to hear something.

"What is it?" Spyro asked. When Cynder didn't answer he began to ask again but was cut off as a giant black dragon rammed into him.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled as she saw the black dragon smash into her friend and saw the two tumble across the grass.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the long update but Enjoy! Please R&R**

Spyro tumbled across the grass, the black dragon wasting no time in clawing at his hide. Spyro roared in pain as he felt the sharp claws dig into his scales. The two dragons came to a stop after a moment the dark dragon pined Spyro to the ground. As soon as the tumbling stopped Spyro got a good look at the dragon that had attacked him. Even though his head was still spinning from the attack Spyro saw the dragon's blue eyes staring him down, each orb filled with unbridled rage.

Spyro only saw the eyes for a moment; almost immediately after the dragon was pushed off to his side. Spyro wasted no time in jumping to his feet. When he looked around he saw Cynder squaring off with the black dragon that attacked him. Spyro could only surmise that Cynder had rammed the large dragon off him.

"Who are you?" Spyro asked, walking up to stand next to Cynder. Although Spyro had asked the dragon a question he still took on a crouched ready stance just in case the volatile dragon decided to attack again.

The black dragon laughed. "My name's Reave, but that doesn't really matter now does it."

"What do you want with us?" Cynder asked her voice laden with anger.

"You both killed Malefor didn't you?" Reave asked the two dragons. When he only got a blank stare he continued. "Serves him right."

This sentence caught the two dragons off guard and they stared at the black dragon curiously. "What did you just say?" Spyro asked, after he finally regained himself.

Reave sighed. "As you two have probably figured out by now I'm one of the seven dragons of darkness. An agent of Malefor sent to finish his work should he not succeed."

"Then why are you glad he died." Cynder asked not understanding the dragon.

The dragon's calm demeanor vanished suddenly, and was replaced with anger. "He was weak! You two may have beaten him but we, his successors, will be the end of both of you! With you both out of the way nothing will stop us from conquering this planet for ourselves."

Spyro began to ask the dragon another question, but was knocked to the ground again causing his words to become a grunt. The purple dragon tried to kick with his back legs and knock the dragon off. When Reave didn't budge Spyro finally noticed that the dragon was at least two times his size. Reave smiled at the dragon's futile attempt to push him off. His anger building Spyro opened his maw to release a bolt of lightning.

Reave, despite his size was still one step ahead and launched himself off the dragon and turned in midflight, knowing that Cynder would be behind him by now. The dark dragon's suspicion was correct and he found Cynder flying towards him. To the dragoness' surprise she was tackled in midair, as Reave tried to rip her apart with his sharp claws.

The dragoness retaliated with her jaw as she tried to crush the dragon's neck. As her mouth wrapped around Reave's neck she felt a sharp pain in her mouth, and immediately wrenched her mouth away. In a split second she saw what had poked her; Reave had serrated scales making his hide almost impervious. The dragoness could hardly give it a second thought as she hurtled towards the ground.

The two dragons slammed into the ground with crushing force. Spyro grimaced when he saw the crash landing. His expression was soon one of confusion though as both dragons sunk through the ground with tufts of dark fire exploding from around that spot before vanishing hiding the two completely. Spyro stood perfectly still, unable to see what was going on in the shadows. After what felt like hours Cynder shot through the ground to land lightly by Spyro. Although the dragoness seemed okay her black scales were now peppered with her own blood, which had come from a few nasty looking wounds.

"He is stronger than I ever could have thought." Cynder huffed obviously tired from her fight in the shadows.

"Wait Cynder, where did he go?" Spyro asked, looking around the small glade.

Cynder gasped suddenly. "Spyro get into the air!" Cynder yelled while launching herself off the ground.

Spyro turned to her with a confused look before realizing her point, but by then it was too late. Reave leaped out of Spyro's shadow and grabbed the dragon in his great maw before tossing the dragon like a twig. Spyro's body smashed into a tree before he fell to the ground. Growling through the pain the dragon got up and began to open his mouth ready to unleash his fire breath.

Reave reacted first and within a second the black dragon let loose a wave of black fire. The flames quickly enveloped the purple dragon covering him from sight. Cynder watched the event unfold from above. Assuming the worst the dragoness dived straight for Reave with abandon. The large dragon noted the dragoness just before she rammed into him. Reave stopped his fiery onslaught before turning to grab the dragoness out of the air with a massive paw.

The dragoness didn't think it was capable for him to react that quickly, before she could stop she was caught in his crushing grip. Cynder gasped for breath and scratched at the dragon's paw futilely as his sharp talons began to wrap tightly around her neck.

"You two are pathetic. I have never fought a less capable pair of dragons." Reave spat. Cynder tried to bar her teeth but found her vision starting to fade as the oxygen was kept from her lungs.

Reave turned from the dragoness to where he had last seen Spyro. The large dragon's eyes widened slightly when he saw a dome of solid earth, which he assumed Spyro had erected as a form of defense. Reave smirked and looked back to Cynder. The dragoness hardly registered the larger dragon as her vision blurred and began to slip away.

Reave launched the dragoness through the air. Cynder barely felt the movement but only knew that she could once again breathe. The dragoness crashed through the stone barricade and shattered it before falling to the ground next to Spyro. She noted that the grass had been burnt away, telling her that Spyro had not been completely spared from the shadow fire. The two dragons struggled to get to their feet as Reave walked over slowly.

"You two are pitiful." Reave said as he watched the two try to overcome their wounds. "Count yourselves lucky that Astir wants pleasure of killing you himself. This is only a fraction of the pain you will feel." The dragon flew off with a burst of his massive grey wings.

Cynder watched the dragon fly off before turning to Spyro. She looked him up and down and saw his purple scales were now burnt slightly changing his scales to a dark violet hue.

"Spyro, we have to get back to Warfang." She said in a weak voice as she slowly raised herself to her feet. Spyro struggled to get to his feet as Cynder tried her best to act as a support. The dragoness felt Spyro's hide as he leaned against her she stifled a gasp when she realized how hot the dragon's scales felt to her.

"Hey are you guys alright?" Sparx asked as he came speeding towards them. "You two kinda got killed out there." The dragonfly said, scratching the back of his head.

"Thanks Sparx, I think we could see that for ourselves." Spyro said, limping forward with Cynder. The two dragons used each other as supports. "Come on let's just get back to Warfang we have to talk to the Guardians, now." The dragon said putting emphasis on the last word.

"We can't get in though." Sparx said.

"We'll find a way in." Cynder retorted.

"Are you okay to fly Cynder?" Spyro asked.

"Ye-yeah I think I can make it." Cynder said shakily.

As the dragoness stretched her wings she shuddered slightly feeling a more than a few pricks of pain. Despite the sign she gave the two a weak smile before lifting into the air with Spyro following closely behind. It took the two dragons only a few minutes to make it over the wall. The two dragons didn't slow down at all; they flew straight for the massive tower that seemed to soar above the all the other buildings in Warfang.

The two dragons touched down in front of the temple for the second time that day. The two dragons landed rather unsteadily on the steps their wounds keeping them from landing with grace. Spyro and Cynder walked up to the guards that still stood outside the doorway to enter the temple.

The two dragons broke their stern stance and a look of horror overtook their faces when they saw the battered young dragons before them. "What happened to you too?" One of them asked.

"You should go see the healer right away." The other added looking painfully at their wounds.

"We have to get inside and see the guardians." Spyro said, ignoring the two dragon's concerns.

The guards stiffened again. "You cannot enter, we already told you that." One guard said.

"We weren't asking." Cynder said darkly, her iris' turning a deep red.

The two guards stepped back in surprise, Cynder's eye color striking a note of fear into their hearts. While the two guards stood in shock Spyro and Cynder began walking toward the entryway. Their movement snapped the guards back to reality and they both moved to intercept the younger dragons.

Cynder let out a shrill cry that caused the guard closest to her to stop in his tracks and shiver in fear. Spyro let loose a bolt of electricity that shocked the other dragon into submission. Seeing the two immobilized guards the two dragons sprinted on through the entrance and up the stairs to their left. The dragons only made it up one flight before running into more guards.

"You can't be in here." One said with an astounded look on his face. Spyro didn't give the dragon a second thought and instead he spat a wave of ice at him freezing the dragon to his core. As the other two guards came towards them the smaller dragons charged for the stairs determined to reach the guardian's chamber.

"Do you know where you're going Spyro?" Cynder asked as she rammed another guard in the chest.

"Not really, but my guess is that they are on the top floor." Spyro said ducking under an ice dragon before slamming him with his tail.

"Great we get to fight our way to the top." Cynder said sarcastically.

Azshea sat silently in the circular room that was filled with at least twenty elder dragons who she assumed were the representatives of each of the outlying dragon cities. Each of them had pleaded their case to the guardians. She looked upon the young dragons who were no older than her. Each of them disgusted her. Blaze always had an unpleasant remark to make. Srix, the lightning guardian, rarely said anything and if he did it never seemed to be what Azshea would consider a good choice. Krista had only agreed with what Blaze said and seemed to have no opinion of her own. The only one who was trying to be helpful was Tera. The green dragoness was trying her best to help where she could but was usually overruled by the other three guardians.

Azshea took her eyes off of guardians and turned them to her mother who was now professing her own case to them.

"Syrinal, my home town, has been attacked several times now. Apes have assaulted us relentlessly. We do not know why, since the dark master has been killed. Something propels them on though. Just look at my daughter who has suffered wounds from the attacks." Ashe explained nodding her head towards her daughter.

All eyes fell on Azshea and the deep wounds that seemed to cover her body. The crowd suddenly grew agitated looking at the young dragoness, although the guardians seemed to care little about the situation. Despite the eyes on her Azshea kept a deadly stare on her mother. They both knew who had given her the wounds, but now Ashe was playing Azshea's injuries to her advantage. Ashe smirked knowing that the dragoness would not say anything to contradict her.

"I ask you, young guardians." The dragoness continued after the other older dragons had settled down. "I ask that you help our town to repel the apes, or at the very least find the source that we may deal with it ourselves."

Blaze opened his mouth to say something but there was a sudden crashing sound below them. The room was silent for a moment each dragon trying to decipher the sound. After the moment of confusion had passed Blaze continued. "Ashe I must ask why you are not capable of fighting." The dragoness cocked an eyebrow at the guardian silently asking him to elaborate. "You see why-

Another sound of metal scraping on stone followed closely by a dragon's roar interrupted the fire guardian.

"You see Ashe, why should we here at Warfang help you?" The fire guardian asked.

"You should help us, because that is you job." Ashe said irritated slightly by the guardian's response but not so much as to lose her temper. Another roar rocked the upper floors further irritating the dragoness.

"I believe that we govern Warfang. You have made a self-functioning society outside our walls; therefore you should be able to protect it. We should not have to expend troops to protect territory that is not ours." Blaze said while looking disinterested.

Ashe was about to give a furious retort when the large wooden door at the back of the circular room burst open. A purple and black dragon leapt inside the room still facing the staircase that lead inside.

"Hey, call off your guards hot-head!" Sparx yelled as he flew up in Blaze's face.

"I don't take orders from bugs." Blaze sneered at the dragonfly.

Azshea's eyes darted around the room, noting all the new activity, before they rested on Spyro and Cynder.

"Kill them." Blaze said simply. The guards stopped for a moment to look at the fire guardian. They had to follow his orders but these two dragons were heroes. "Now!" Blaze clarified and the guards moved forward.

Spyro and Cynder back away slowly as the adult dragons began to surround them.

"Wait, stop you can't kill them!" Azshea yelled at the guardian stepping forward and causing all eyes in the room to fall on her.

"My thoughts exactly, guards leave us; there is no need for you here." Tera said keeping a calm tone.

"Should we leave the dragons here?" One guard, who wore very elaborate etched armor asked.

"Yes."

The guard captain sighed with relief at not having to attack the dragons that had killed Malefor, before moving out of the room, his guards following.

"What are you two doing here?" Blaze asked jumping down from his high seat and stepping up to the two. Only then did he notice the wounds that littered the dragon's bodies. "What happened to you two?" He asked pulling his head back in slight disgust.

"What happened? What happened? What happened was we were attacked like we have tried to tell you!" Spyro said losing his temper. The purple dragon had long ago grown tired of Blaze.

"What do you mean?' Tera asked gliding down to stand next Blaze. Krista stayed up top in her seat but looked down at the two dragons with great interest while Srix's face stayed blank.

"We tried to tell you. We were attacked by two dragons now. They both claim that are from an order that Malefor initiated." Every dragon in the room began to whisper immediately at the mention of the Dark Master. "They call themselves the seven dragons of darkness, and they say that they are going to conquer this planet and finish what Malefor couldn't." Cynder explained.

A moment of silence passed between the dragons with only whispers passing around in the background. "I don't believe it." Blaze said.

The crowd gasped at the dragon's comment and Tera stepped away from the fire guardian in shock. "What more proof do you want?" Tera asked.

"These dragons haven't given us any proof yet. Not to mention I am still not for trusting her." Blaze said nodding his head towards Cynder. The motion producing a threatening growl from Spyro. "Maybe you all forgot but not too long ago she was trying to kill us, how do we know she still isn't."

"Don't talk to Cynder like that she has done more for this world than you ever could in your life!" Spyro yelled using all his willpower not to jump on the dragon then and there.

"I don't care. I want to see these dragons, because so far you two are the only ones who have seen them." Spyro was about to say something else when Blaze added. "Except for the one two days ago but he didn't do anything that I thought deserved this kind of retaliation."

"You can't take their word for it?" Another voice asked. All eyes in the room turned to Azshea. "They saved the world, what do you think they are trying to do make a practical joke?" The dragoness asked stepping up to Blaze and eyeing him with anger.

Spyro and Cynder were surprised by the dragoness' outburst but didn't mind the support.

"Azshea do not speak to the guardian in that tone!" Ashe yelled at her daughter from across the room.

"Look, I'm not asking for much show me some proof and then I'll give it some thought." Blaze said dismissively. Tera was obviously about to object but she looked back to the other guardians who were nodding their heads agreeing with Blaze. Tera sighed sadly and flew back to her seat.

"I think that's it for today." Blaze said turning to go back to his spot.

"Wait! Are you seriously just going to dismiss this like its nothing?" Azshea asked rudely forcing the fire dragon to turn around again.

Blaze shook his head before he began to turn around again. "No, you can't just not do anything about this. Spyro and Cynder-

"Azshea that's enough!" Ashe screamed at her daughter charging over.

Blaze smirked at the young fire dragoness before leaving.

"Cynder let's go I guess this is something that we have to deal with on our own." Spyro said turning from the room with Cynder and Sparx following closely.

After the two dragons left Azshea turned back to her mother. "Mom what the hell! Are you insane, those two are telling the truth!"

"You will not talk to me in that tone. I know what is right and they were lying to us. You will follow what the guardians say!" Ashe yelled.

"You follow them mindlessly!" Azshea paused for a moment. "I'm tired of it. I don't care what you think. It obviously hasn't gotten us anywhere yet." The dragoness said with those words turned from her mother.

"Where are you going Azshea?" Ashe asked her voice oddly calm now.

"To help Spyro and Cynder, they're the only ones trying to make a difference." Azshea said calmly and walked from the room.

Ashe watched the dragoness go without a word.

Spyro and Cynder walked along slowly their spirits crushed and their bodies past exhaustion. They made their way through the streets of Warfang towards the Guardian's home. The two dragons didn't even bother with the clinic; both of the dragons knew that while their wounds hurt badly they were not mortal and most likely there would be nothing a doctor could do except tell them to rest.

As the two dragons continued to walk down the street a shadow passed over them and a fire dragoness landed in front of them. The two dragons quickly recognized who it was but made no attempts to show it.

"Um, hi." The dragoness paused for a moment to look at the two. "Do you two know who I am?" She asked.

"Azshea, right?" Spyro asked.

"Yeah, and you two are Spyro and Cynder." When there was no response she continued. "I want to help you both."

This statement extracted a response from the two and they eyed the dragoness suspiciously.

"Look I think the guardians are crazy, and if there is anyone we can trust our fate with, it's you two." The dragoness explained quickly.

"You do realize you could end up hurt or worse if you help us right?" Spyro asked looking the dragoness up and down.

"Yes, I know the consequences of fighting, and I am more than ready to fight."

Spyro looked to Cynder still unsure of whether to let the dragoness come along. The dragon still thought that this young dragon didn't know what she was getting into. Cynder gave him a shrug not knowing what to say.

"Let her come with us, we could use the help, especially with Reave." Sparx said.

After a moment of thought Spyro looked back to the dragoness and said. "Alright Azshea you can come with us, on one condition. I want to know what made you want to do this; it isn't every day that a dragon just decides to do things like this."

"Sure I can tell you what happened." Azshea said simply.

"Alright then follow us." Cynder said, walking past them.

Aegis walked through the forest floor silently picking his path among the various plants and trees. The lightning dragon had been bested before but Reave had made a mistake. He thought the yellow dragon was done for but really Aegis was only tired from the fight. After a quick rest the lightning dragon was up again not fully recovered but enough to survive. Aegis wasn't even sure what he was going to do if he found Reave again. He had been beaten before, but he could only hope that he would find some way to win. He had to win.

The dragon stopped behind some bushes and looked out at the small clearing that had a small ape encampment in it. Apes jumped and ran through the dragon scanned the small village trying to estimate the size of the town. Aegis smiled knowing his chances were good and he stepped through the bushes and into the clearing. He walked slowly and made no attempt to hide himself. The golden scaled dragon was spotted before he reached the actual village and within seconds apes yelped and ran to grab their weapons.

Aegis finally saw the first coming straight for him. The ape held a large sword. The lightning dragon ducked under expected swing of the sword and then tackled the ape tearing through his crude armor and then flesh.

As the dragon stood up from his fresh kill he rolled away from another ape that leapt at him with nothing more than his claws. Aegis rolled to the side and shot a bolt of lightning killing the ape instantly. As more apes came the dragon started to become overwhelmed.

Eventually, the apes that had the dragon surrounded all jumped on him in unison hoping to overwhelm the dragon with pure numbers. As the apes piled on Aegis stood perfectly still and concentrated. He ignored the blows that he felt hit his skin and focused on his energy. The electricity that built up in his body finally broke free in an explosion sending apes flying in all directions. Most all of them died from the charge but the ones that didn't ran away fearful of the powerful dragon. Aegis only walked on as if the village wasn't even there.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Wow okay that was a quick update for me. Anyway hope you enjoy the chapter.**

Azshea stepped lightly through the streets. An air of happiness had come over her. In front of her walked Spyro and Cynder. The dragoness had always seen the two dragons as her second biggest source of inspiration, the first source being her father. She looked up at the dragons that walked in front of her.

As she looked at the dragons she grimaced seeing their open wounds, some of which were still bleeding a little bit, along with many scales that had dry blood on them. The two dragons looked down and almost depressed.

"Are you two feeling alright?" Azshea asked the two dragons, bringing them out of their thoughts. "If you don't mind me asking." She added quickly. The dragoness still felt somewhat inferior to them, and didn't want to pry into their private thoughts.

Cynder sighed. "It's just been a long day."

"We've had a lot of those lately." Spyro added looking back to the fire dragoness.

"Well, you two do have a plan don't you?" Azshea asked.

The two dragons looked at each other and sighed. Seeing that his friends were at a loss for words Sparx cut in. "Honey, we almost never have a plan. It's more like a vague outline, or someone has told us what to do and then for some reason we did it without really asking." The dragonfly said.

Azshea fixed Sparx with a scowl. "Can anyone remind me who this bug is?"

"Hey!" Sparx retorted shaking his fist at the dragoness.

"Sparx not now, and we never followed orders blindly." Spyro said cutting the dragonfly off. "Azshea this is Sparx my brother." The purple dragon explained.

"Brother?" Azshea asked, cocking an eyebrow and shifting her eyes between the purple dragon and the yellow dragonfly.

"Yeah, it's a long story." Spyro said.

"I think I have time."

"Right I forgot." Spyro chuckled slightly before continuing. "When I was still in my egg I was hidden from Malefor's forces. A family of dragonflies adopted me. When I hatched they also had a son, Sparx." Spyro said nodding to the dragonfly. "When I left home he came with me."

"Ever since then we have been graced with Sparx's presence." Cynder said sarcastically.

"You know you love me." Sparx said.

"Wouldn't trade you for anyone else." Cynder said smiling to the dragonfly.

Sparx smiled happily and floated down by Spyro. "Watch out bud or I might steal Cynder from you." The dragonfly said quietly. Spyro scowled at the dragonfly after hearing him.

Although Sparx had spoken quietly Cynder still turned her head, catching a good amount of the conversation. She looked at Spyro with a questioning stare, and the dragon could only give her a disarming smile in return.

Azshea looked between the three again and again. "I have to say you three are kind of weird."

"You wouldn't be the first to say that." Cynder responded, turning from Spyro to Azshea, letting the sentence roll off her back.

"But now you're one of us!" Sparx said, flying close to Azshea's face and wiggling his fingers for effect. Azshea gave him a blank stare before blowing a small puff of air sending the dragonfly off course for a moment before he corrected his fight path. Despite her initial reaction the dragoness couldn't help but laugh.

The three dragons reached the Guardian's house soon after. As they stepped through the large opening that was only covered by a curtain they were met by three familiar faces. The three dragons were surprised though when the elder dragons were all scowling at them as they entered the lavish house.

"Uh, hi, everyone." Spyro said slightly unnerved by the dragon's looks.

"We know what you two did." Terrodar said plainly but in an angry tone.

"Did what?" Cynder asked genuinely curious.

"You two broke into the temple!" Cyril yelled stepping forward.

"You injured multiple guards and caused damages across all the floors of the temple!"

"Wait we can explain!" Spyro pleaded desperately.

The guardians would have none of it. "You both even went so far as to break into the guardian's chamber, and openly challenge them! Not to mention that all the ambassadors from other cities were there! I know you are both used to doing what you want but that time has come to an end, this city runs on order! Now that we have had our say…" Terrodar trailed off as he noticed Azshea walk through the door behind the two.

"Wait, wait, did you two actually get past all the guards in the temple just to make it to that floor?" The dragoness asked astounded.

Spyro and Cynder nodded. "By the ancestors that is amazing! You two are tougher than I ever imagined."

"I don' think now is the time to praise us on that." Cynder said subtly bobbing her head towards the guardians. Azshea turned her attention to the three old dragons and cringed when she saw them staring at her with fiery eyes. She hadn't realized that it was the guardians who were living here.

Cyril sighed and rubbed his forehead with his paw. "Please don't tell me you brought some trouble making dragoness home with you."

Azshea scowled at the dragon. Seeing this Spyro interjected. "Oh right, Terrodar, Cyril, Volteer, this is Azshea."

"Azshea?" Volteer asked before pondering the name for a few moments. "Oh, now I remember." The dragon said smiling proudly at his mental accomplishment. His face suddenly turned grim though as he pieced everything together in his mind.

"Would you mind filling us in?" Cyril asked, impatiently tapping his claws on the floor. Azshea too was becoming impatient, eager to know what this dragon had heard about her.

"Right, yes. This is the daughter of Ashe, the ambassador from Syrinal. You are Ashe's daughter are you not?" The lightning dragon asked.

Azshea nodded solemnly, the mention of her mother brought her spirits down. It only reminded her how she had stormed out on the dragoness. She had no love for her mother but when it came down to it Ashe was family. She wasn't the greatest but she was the last thing Azshea had in this world.

Volteer cringed slightly as his suspicion was confirmed. Azshea noticed and looked at the dragon questioningly. "I have just heard…stories." The dragon said searching for the right term. As he spoke he subtly shifted his eyes to look at the large puncture wound in her chest. The fire dragoness noticed the wandering eyes but chose to ignore them.

"I am sorry if we have disrespected you miss." Terrodar said giving a slight bow with the other two dragons following suit.

Azshea blushed at the attention. "Its fine, I'm not offended. I would like to say that it is a pleasure to meet all of you, you are all living legends." Azshea said finishing with a bow of her own.

"When did this place get so formal?" Sparx asked causing everyone's head to turn. When he saw the eyes on him he could only shrug. "I'm just saying that we never bowed before."

"We bowed before now Sparx, you just lack manners." Cynder said nonchalantly.

"Maybe we should just head upstairs." Spyro interrupted before the argument could escalate. "Assuming its okay with you." He added looking up to the ex-guardians.

"You may go, and Azshea you are welcome to stay as well. I only ask that you do not attack the temple full force again, we were lucky this time." Terrodar said. "It was easy to convince people that you meant no ill will Spyro but it was harder to convince them that Cynder meant no harm. One more outburst like that and I wouldn't be surprised if Cynder was severely punished.

"I for one would like to know why you even attacked them in first place." Cyril said eyeing Spyro and Cynder's wounds. "But I think it can wait till tomorrow. You both need to rest and maybe see the doctor." The dragon said.

"We just need some rest." Cynder said, giving the dragon a smile.

"We'll explain what happened first thing tomorrow." Spyro said. "Rest assured there is a good explanation."

The guardians nodded as the younger dragons left the room and preceded up the stairs. After they had gone out of earshot Volteer turned to his friends. "Do either of you find it odd that Azshea is here with Spyro and Cynder and her mother is nowhere to be found."

"As a matter of fact I do. I am assuming that you both noticed the rather large wound on her chest?" Cyril asked looking to his two friends.

"Volteer, I think it's time you tell us just what you know about this dragoness." Terrodar said. Volteer nodded and started from the beginning.

Solris walked around the clearing. The black dragoness hardly knew what to do with herself. The other dragons had left, each of them were on a mission to do something or other. The dragoness looked around at the nature that surrounded her. She had always enjoyed the outdoors. The dragoness pressed a leaf between her claws, watching it bend beneath her sharp talons. A sudden sound caused her to spin around, stirring up a breeze in the process. The black dragoness looked up to see Reave gliding down towards her. When she realized who it was the dragoness' face became one of disappointment. Out of all of the seven, Reave was by far her least favorite.

"Hey there Solris." Reave said as he landed in front of her. The black dragoness didn't respond to the large dragon. "Not feeling talkative, huh? Well that's not unusual." After the dragon stopped talking and his eyes began to wander along the dragoness' shapely body.

Solris noticed and waved her wings kicking up the wind and letting it slam into the large dragon. It didn't do anything to hurt him but it got his attention. Reave lifted his eyes and growled at the dragoness. "What?"

"Have you no respect?" Solris growled baring her teeth.

"I'm sorry did I offend you?" Reave asked his voice suddenly sounded nervous.

"Yeah, a bit." Solris said moving her leg to try and cover up her body.

Reave laughed loudly. "I was kidding Solris, you should know by now that I don't care."

"Reave get the hell away from me!" Solris yelled backing away from the dragon.

"Yeah, cause that always works." Reave said, rolling his eyes before he slowly approached the dragoness.

The dragoness bared her teeth and spread her sky blue wings wide. Reave laughed before her jumped towards the dragoness meaning to tackle her. The dark dragon had had Solris on his eyes for a long time. Now that no one was around it seemed like the perfect time to get what he wanted.

Solris stood her ground before the charging dragon. Digging her claws in the soft ground the dragoness gave her wings a great flap and let loose a gust from her maw. The combined force of the air brought the large dragon to a skidding halt before her, but otherwise did nothing to harm the large dark dragon.

Reave didn't lose his concentration. Although he was surprised that the dragoness had been able to stop his momentum still reacted quickly and swung a massive sharp clawed paw at the dragoness. Solris quickly tucked in her body and fell to the ground the talons barely missing her. The dragoness gasped when she looked up and saw Reave's head rearing forward about to clasp around her neck.

Quick as lightning Solris leapt into the air, her powerful legs alone bringing her up seven feet into the air. The slender dragoness extended her wings and caught the wind keeping her aloft. Reave looked up at the dragoness with scorn. "Get down here whelp!" He exclaimed.

The dragoness smirked and continued to hover in place, hardly having to flap her wings to stay in the air. The moment of safety quickly ended though as Solris ducked out of the way of a massive blast of black fire. The dragoness spiraled down and around to the side of the fire. Coming out of the dive she found her bearings and clamped her jaws down on Reave's long neck.

The dragoness kept the momentum of her dive and spun around the dragon's heavily armored neck by her teeth. By the time she realized that her teeth had done nothing to injure the dragon it was too late. As the dragoness continued to bite down on the dark dragon's neck she felt Reave's paw wrap around her body. With a slight yelp the dragoness was wrenched from her position and thrown into the ground. Solris bounced twice before rolling to a stop, groaning in pain all the while.

"Did you really think you could beat me in a fight? I am superior to you in every way." The dragon said as he walked over to the dragoness who was struggling to her feet. Solris tried to get her paws under her but could hardly accomplish that. The blow had jostled her so much that she could hardly see straight. A moment later when she felt Reave's body land on top of her, the last of her air was forced out of her body. She looked up groggily at Reave and made a futile attempt to push him off. The large dragon smiled, knowing he would finally have her as his prize.

"Excuse me!" The two heard someone yell from across the small grove. Reave turned around to look at the newcomer. He saw a large adult ice dragon. He held his large blue scaled body with perfect poise. His black wings and light blue chest exemplifying his icy features even more. His eyes were locked on Reave's each orb filled with contempt. If Reave would have had to guess he would place the dragon in his prime.

"I think you need to get off of that young lady." The ice dragon continued his voice deathly calm.

"And I guess you are going to make me do that." Reave said looking back at the dragon with an upraised eyebrow.

"Yes, or you can just leave now and save yourself the trouble." The dragon said unblinking.

"Oh no, I would never miss out on a chance for trouble." Reave smiled as he stepped off Solris and turned to face his new opponent.

"You leave me no choice." The ice dragon said before advancing across the soft grass.

Reave laughed. "You're more foolish than I thought." The dark dragon leapt forward slamming his horns in the ice dragon's chest and knocking him back. As Reave continued to advance on the now struggling dragon Solris began to stand up once again.

The ice dragon rolled out of the way of a sharp talon that was aimed for his head. As he came to his feet a cone of ice left his mouth. The icy particles bounced off Reave's resilient skin leaving him unaffected.

"Brrrr." The dragon said mockingly. "Now it's my turn now." Shadow fire burst forth from the dark dragon's maw and enveloped the ice dragon, who roared in protest before vanishing from sight. Reave stopped the black flames only moments after he had started, for he didn't intend to kill the dragon that way, and walked over to the now burnt ice dragon. The once boisterous male had been reduced to a bloody and broken heap.

"Reave no!" Solris yelled from across the clearing.

Reave sighed. "What a surprise, you don't want me to kill him." The dragon said turning his head to face the dragoness.

"I won't let you." The dragoness said stumbling slightly as she moved towards the two.

"I thought you learned your lesson. No matter I can deal with you next, I just have to finish up one thing." Reave said, turning back to the fallen ice dragon. The dark dragon bent low moving his jaw in to break the ice dragon's spine.

"Reave stop! If you spare him, I'll..I'll." The dragoness struggled with her words. "I'll let you continue what you started."

Reave stopped his advance and pondered the statement. After quickly working it through his mind the dragon stood up and faced Solris. "Why should I choose when I can have both?" The dragon said, and in one fluid motion he bent down and bit the ice dragon's neck snapping it. As soon as he heard the sound the dragon turned to face Solris before advancing towards her. The dragoness backed up in fear knowing that she had no escape. Suddenly, the dragoness heard a familiar roar and saw another dragon land near them.

"What happened here!" Astir yelled looking around between the dragons. For once in her life Solris was happy to see her leader.

Spyro and Cynder lay down on their large pillow. Azshea took one across from them so that they could all talk easily. Azshea looked between the two who were lying down next to each other on their pillow, comfortably leaning against one another.

"I assume you two are mates." The dragoness said, hardly considering the words before she spoke them.

The two dragons looked at her with surprised eyes and then at each other. The two dragons shifted nervously under the statement, neither knowing how to respond.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to say that out loud." Azshea said apologetically.

"How about we change topics? Azshea I think we all want to know what your story is." Sparx said quickly ending the awkward moment.

"Yeah, how about you tell us your story Azshea." Spyro said silently thanking the ancestors that the conversation had been avoided.

"Oh, ok well let's see where to start at. Well as you all know I'm from Syrinal a small town to the west of Warfang. Currently I live with my mother, Ashe, the ambassador fire dragoness from the meeting." The dragoness explained. The two nodded verifying that they knew her.

"What about that shiny leaf you're wearing there. Is there anything significant about that?" Sparx asked, the piece of jewelry catching his eye for the first time.

"Oh this?" The dragoness asked feeling the leaf between her talons. "It actually is important. This was given to me by my father. He was an earth dragon named Diam. He gave me this pendant, he told me to always wear it." The dragoness explained now eyeing the metalwork of the leaf.

"Wait, what do you mean _was_ an earth dragon?" Sparx asked almost afraid of the answer.

"He passed away two years ago. Soon after the dark master was released, and his minions rained free." The dragoness sniffled slightly at the recollection of her father.

"I'm sorry for your lose Azshea." Cynder said empathy clear in her voice.

"We can stop talking about it if you want." Spyro said not wanting to unearth old memories.

Azshea shook her head. "No, it's okay, you want to know and you all deserve that much since you let me come with you without a second thought." Azshea sighed and steadied herself. "The last night I saw him…

Diam roared with all his might and brought down his massive paws. The ground beneath his powerful forearms shattered, the effect continuing outward like an earthquake. The dark creatures that swarmed around him were thrown into the air and then dropped to the ground again, the impact of the blow felling most of them.

The adult earth dragon flew off quickly, to escape from the ensuing creatures. The dragon made the short flight back to his home which stood higher up. All around him he saw dragons engaged in aerial and ground combat each of them fighting with multiple dark creatures. The earth dragon accelerated his flight anxious to get back to his home and see if his family was okay.

Diam landed on the balcony that extended from his home. Almost immediately, Ashe stepped through the curtain with Azshea following closely behind her. The older dragoness sighed in relief when she saw her mate and quickly ran forward to embrace him. Azshea sprinted towards her father as fast as her little legs could carry her and with a small leap attached herself to her father's leg.

"How bad is it?" Ashe asked quietly trying to keep Azshea from hearing.

"They have us surrounded, I don't know if we'll make it." Diam said in response.

Ashe looked down and saw that his mottled green and brown skin was already covered in cuts and blood. "Please don't go out again Diam. I need you here, I don't know what I would do if I lost you." Ashe pleaded and stared into the earth dragon's brown eyes.

"Daddy are all of the bad creatures gone?" Azshea asked looking up to her father with wide hopeful eyes.

Diam sighed and sat down while Azshea unattached herself from his leg and sat down in front of the dragon. "Azshea, I have to go back out there and keep you all safe. It's my duty."

"I don't like it when you leave dad." Azshea said looking down sadly.

"I know Azshea, but how about I make you a deal?"

Azshea perked up at this and listened to her father with renewed vigor. "I want you to wear this." Diam said while removing his bronze leaf pendant. He draped the necklace over his daughter and chuckled slightly when he saw the leaf hit the floor, for the pendant was much too big for her. "You wear this and that way I have to come back. Deal?"

Azshea looked happily at the pendant and then back to her father. "Deal!"

Diam smiled before nuzzling her daughter, which produced a small coo from the little dragoness. The earth dragon then stood up once again. He looked over to Ashe who had a tear in her eye. "I have to go." Diam said.

"I know, just make sure that you come back." The dragoness said, forcing a smile.

"Of course." Diam said before kissing the dragoness on the lips. They held the embrace for a long moment while Azshea turned away and stuck out her tongue. The dragons finally broke the kiss and without waiting any longer Diam leapt over the ledge.

As soon as he crossed the balcony Azshea ran over as fast as the heavy pendent would permit and peaked over the balcony. She looked over just as her father plummeted into the ground using his body like a giant boulder. The ground shook and all over bodies flew away.

"Azshea we have to go back inside now." Ashe said gently leading the dragon away from the edge.

"But dad is-

"Now!" The adult dragoness said sternly leading Azshea inside.

"A tremendous roar was the last time I heard my father. I never saw him again, but my mother told me he died fighting." Azshea said finishing her tale.

"Wow, he sounds like he was a great dragon." Spyro said in awe and the others nodded their agreement.

"Yeah, a lot has changed; my mom was different back then too. I don't know what happened but something changed her." The dragoness continued.

"What do you mean?" Cynder asked cocking her head to the side.

"I don't know she just seems like a completely different person. She has a short temper and it seems like she is always angry for no reason. Not to mention she did this." Azshea said pointing to the puncture wound in her chest.

The three gasped in surprise. "She did that to you?" Spyro asked being the first one to regain his voice.

"Yeah she did." Azshea said tracing the deep wound with a talon.

"Why?" Cynder asked a horrified look on her face.

"As far as I can tell, she did it because I didn't listen and helped fight off some apes." The dragoness explained. When she looked to the others she saw their grimaces.

"Alright, Azshea I think you told us more than enough about your past now I just want to know why you want to fight the seven dragons of darkness?"

"Well, I want to make this world a better place anyway I can. I think helping you two is the best way to accomplish that." The dragoness explained simply.

"We would be glad to have you by us. For now though lets go to sleep I think we have all had a long day." Cynder said. After looking around and seeing the nods she lied down along with the others.

Spyro lay awake that night. Many things had been said that day and so much had happened but that wasn't what was itching at him. He turned his head slightly and looked at Cynder. He sighed contentedly just looking up and down her frame. In his eyes she even slept with untold grace.

"Spyro." He heard a voice say and quickly recognized it as Cynder.

Spyro stayed still for a moment before responding. "What is it?" He whispered back.

"Can we talk?" Cynder asked.

Spyro thought the question was at a completely wrong time, but decided that it was much better to talk with Cynder now, since he never knew when he would get another chance to be alone with her. "Sure, let's go outside."

The two dragons got up silently and lightly stepped over to the balcony trying to make as little noise as possible. They stepped out and moved to the part that wrapped around in order to not be heard.

The two dragons stood silently, Spyro waiting patiently for Cynder to speak. "Spyro." The dragoness finally said. "We heard a lot of things today." The dragoness started but quickly lost her words not knowing how to continue.

"You're talking about us aren't you?" Spyro said bluntly. Cynder looked at the dragon oddly not expecting such a forward question from the purple dragon.

"Yes, I was. Spyro I think we need to figure this out between us. I mean I know Sparx jokes about it all the time but we just met Azshea and even she is thinking we are mates." She said slowly.

"Cynder remember back when we were piecing the world together?" The purple dragon asked. Knowing where the conversation was going Cynder blushed, although Spyro couldn't see it, and nodded.

"I heard what you said to me then." Spyro said, stepping a little closer to the dragoness. When Cynder made no move to respond the purple dragon continued. "Cynder I want you to know…" Spyro drifted off trying to find the courage to say what he felt. "I, I love you too Cynder." The purple dragon quickly moved in and kissed the dragoness. The two held the embrace for a few moments. Cynder's mind filled with emotions, but the most prominent was happiness. She finally knew how Spyro felt about her and she couldn't be more pleased.

Spyro finally broke the kiss. "Cynder I don't know what to say. I just know that since we met I've always felt you were different from other dragons."

Cynder smiled. "I've felt the same way Spyro. I don't know what the future holds but when we find out I want to be with you."

Spyro returned the smile. "Don't worry Cynder I promise I won't forsake you."

The two shared one more loving embrace. "Thank you Spyro." Cynder said quietly.

**A/N: I just want to say that I am very new to romance so sorry if that wasn't so great. Anyway tell me what you thought or not up to you guys.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry about the long update, but I had a bit of writers block with this chapter anyway tell me what you think. Enjoy!**

"So you're telling us that you were attacked again." Terrodar said before taking a large bite out of a slab of lamb. Spyro and Cynder nodded in response.

"This dragon said his name was Reave, and you say he flew off after besting both of you in a fight." Terrodar continued.

"Besting? That's putting it lightly." Sparx said, interrupting the dragon. Spyro and Cynder scowled at the yellow insect letting him know he was treading on dangerous ground. "Well, I'm just being honest; I mean let's face it you both got killed out there." Sparx said ignoring their looks of disdain.

"Next time you can fight him." Cynder growled hotly.

From beside her Azshea laughed at her remark, the laughter drawing the attention of the others in the room. When she noticed the eyes on her she stopped her laughter. "What? It was funny." She said sheepishly before eating some of the food that had been placed in front of her.

"Anyway, after you lost the fight you proceeded to fly back to the temple." Cyril said getting the dragon's minds back on track. "Then when the guards would not allow you entrance, you decided the best course of action would be to break in."

The two dragons winced at his comment but did not deny that part of the story. "In hindsight I think we can both see." Spyro turned to Cynder who nodded her confirmation. "That it wasn't the best course of action."

"Not the best course of action, but it sure was stylish." Azshea added, quietly enough only for the younger dragons to hear, producing a smile from them.

Volteer who had still been distracted by the dragoness' scar saw the dragoness speak, but his old ears could not register the sound. He instead eyed all three dragons when he saw their smiles, forcing them to turn towards him. "A rash move young dragons." The dragon pondered silently for a moment before continuing. "Although, I cannot honestly say that I would have thought differently at your age."

"Volteer! Do not encourage them." Cyril growled angrily. Spyro and Cynder grinned as Volteer threw them a sly wink.

"Now Cyril, we mustn't be too hard on them." Terrodar stepped in.

"But they-

"Yes, yes what they did was not right." Terrodar stopped to stare at the two dragons who shied away from his eyes. "I hope you both realize this." He continued which resulted in the younger dragons nodding rapidly. "Like Volteer said, we probably would have done the same thing, but you must learn from our mistakes. I want you both to swear that you will never do something like this again."

Spyro and Cynder nodded vigorously. "I swear that neither of us will ever do anything like this again." Spyro said.

"I second that." Cynder added to get the point across.

"Good." Cyril said happily seeing that they had made their point. "With that out of the way, what do you two dragons think should be the next course of action?" The ice dragon asked.

"Well, we don't really have a-

Spyro was cut of midsentence by Azshea who was clearing her throat. Each of the heads in the room turned towards Azshea. Their faces carrying equal looks of puzzlement.

"I have an idea if you would like to hear it." The fire dragoness said seeing that she had their attention.

"I mean no disrespect, but don't you think that you might be pushing your boundaries Azshea?" Terrodar asked a snide undertone in his voice.

"I believe I am here to help Spyro and Cynder, so I feel that I should be a part of the planning process." The dragoness explained carefully wording her sentence so that she said her point but also showed respect.

"She is going with you?" Cyril asked shocked at the revelation. Spyro and Cynder once again shied away from his hard stare and could only give shrugs in response.

"She offered to come; we don't really have any reason to refuse her help, if anything we should welcome it. It's not like the guardians are backing us." Cynder explained to the irritated ice dragon.

"But what about the risks does she realize what could-

"I am perfectly aware of the consequences of my actions. I have been attacked before and I have been critically wounded." As she spoke the dragons in the room could not help but discreetly turn an eye towards the massive scar tissue on her chest. "I feel I am more than capable of handling myself in a fight." The dragoness explained not noticing the dragon's moving eyes.

"Alright then, what is your plan young one?" Volteer asked.

"Well I was thinking, maybe we should head back to Syrinal, my home town. It has been attacked by apes recently so maybe Astir and his band have something to do with it all. Who else could help the apes to coordinate such deadly strikes?"

The dragons of the room pondered the idea for a few moments. The sudden quiet and silent evaluation of her idea was beginning to make the dragoness nervous. She sat in place for what seemed like hours her eyes shifting between the five dragons. "Well? Do you have an answer or are we just going to sit around all day?" The dragoness asked her patience ceasing to exist.

The other dragons turned her heads to her. The eyes on her only making her more nervous and suddenly Azshea wished that she had not spoken.

"I guess it's worth a shot, I mean it isn't like we can wait for them to come to us." Spyro answered finally bringing a sigh of relief from Azshea.

"Even if the apes aren't being lead by the seven we can still stop them from attacking Syrinal." Cynder said lightheartedly bringing a smile to the other dragon's faces.

"So I guess that's the plan unless you three have anything to say about it." Spyro said, standing up and looking to the three elder dragons that sat across from him.

"No Spyro we don't object, although I think if we did you two would go anyway." Terrodar said after silently consulting his friends.

Spyro smirked. "We take your opinions with great considerations it's just…" Spyro trailed off as we tried to think of the right words to say.

"Then we usually overrule it with our own opinions." Sparx said, helping out his struggling brother. Spyro nodded and then shrugged his shoulders not knowing what to say.

"Well whatever the case, be careful there's no telling what these dragons are trying to do." Cyril said eyeing the three carefully.

"Yes, do be careful, and we will hold down everything here, and tell you if anything suspicious happens." Volteer added.

"Alright thanks. Goodbye for now." Spyro said, as he turned to leave the house with Cynder, Sparx, and Azshea in tow.

"Thanks for letting me stay here; it was an honor to meet all of you." Azshea said, giving a deep bow before she followed the other dragons outside. The guardians didn't give a verbal response but only smiled happily.

Azshea stepped outside and stood next to Spyro and Cynder. "Alright Azshea you lead the way." She heard the purple dragon say. Azshea nodded before beating her wings and lifting into the air. The two other dragons followed suit and they soon left Warfang far behind.

The three dragons flew on high over the forested landscapes that covered the area west of the great dragon city. After an hour of flying a thought occurred to Cynder. "Azshea, how far away is your city?" The dragoness asked, raising her voice to be heard over the wind.

The fire dragoness dropped back so that she could speak easily with the two dragons. "Syrinal is about a two hour flight from Warfang we are about halfway there."

"So what is this place like Azshea?" Spyro asked the dragoness, curious as to where they were actually going.

"Syrinal is a town that is carved into a mountainside." The dragoness said calmly. When she looked over to her new friends she saw that both their mouths were open, and laughed. "It's not that extra-ordinary. Earth dragons carved the buildings out of the mountains. It used to be exclusively earth dragons living in the town until the war came. Then when the town was under attack they opened up their borders to repopulate and protect their small town."

"Wow, that's pretty cool." Sparx said as he listened in on the explanation. Azshea smiled, she had never thought her home's history was that interesting but she had also lived there her whole life. The four friends flew on for a long while all of them just enjoying the fast passing scenery. After what seemed like forever, to Spyro and Cynder at least, Azshea shouted over the wind, "There it is, welcome to Syrinal."

The dragons started their slow descent. Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx moved their heads back and forth trying to take in all the sights at once. They had prepared themselves for a wonderfully ornate city that was carved into the bluffs of a mountain. Instead they saw the city in a realistic light. It was obvious that the place had been under attack. The city had been built in three tiers as it descended one side of the mountain. The buildings showed signs of at one time being very breathtaking. Now though, the stone structures looked much less impressive. It was obvious that fighting had been occurring all over the town. All along the structures and roads were scorch marks and craters. These two were both signs of dragon breath attacks. Each of the three dragons cringed as they saw blood stains on some of the stone, the crimson standing out along the tan buildings. Dragons milled about among the various parts of the town each of them going about their daily business.

"Azshea…" Spyro said the words falling out of his mouth.

"It wasn't this bad when we left, there must have been another attack." The dragoness said her tone heavy with sorrow, for it truly hurt her to see her home in such a horrendous state.

"Azshea." Cynder started.

"We have to find the elders; they can tell us what happened here." Azshea said cutting off the black dragoness. Cynder nodded and along with Spyro followed Azshea up further into the city.

The three dragons flew with precision in a beeline towards the third tier and what Spyro and Cynder assumed was the local temple. The dragons landed and Azshea hurried inside with the other two following her quickly.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?" Astir yelled at the two dragons. When he got no response he continued. "You do realize that there is a city right by us? Now you killed a dragon!" Astir looked over to the dead ice dragon before shaking his head in anger.

"You both better hope that no one notices this before the attack!" He said angrily.

"I'm sure you're attack will go just fine, Astir." Reave said putting on a cool tone for his leader.

"If something goes wrong because of this I swear you won't live to see tomorrow." The dragon grumbled. Astir took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. "Look, I am going to be on with the apes on this attack, to ensure that it is done right. I've heard reports that Spyro and Cynder have shown up, so this mission may take some extra care. I want you two right here in case I cannot handle them myself."

The two dragons nodded and Astir flew off without another word.

They stepped inside the temple and immediately saw two older dragons talking to each other, but they were too quiet to hear. The clicking of the three dragon's claws on the marble floors alerted the dragons and they immediately turned each of them growling angrily. Spyro and Cynder were so surprised by the act that they lowered their own bodies and growled back ready for a fight. Azshea however knew better. "Hello Lum." She said in a flat tone, speaking directly to the lightning dragon.

The large yellow dragon's growl ended as he realized that it was dragons and not apes that had stepped inside. When he heard his name and he turned his attention to Azshea. "Azshea, why are you here?" The dragon asked genuinely surprised, since he had heard she was at Warfang.

"_We_ are here," Azshea said, pointing her claw to Spyro and Cynder who had stood up and resumed a non-threatening stance. "Because we want to find out what has been going on lately."

Lum looked over to see Spyro and Cynder who gave a friendly smile. The yellow dragon gasped and his jaw seemed to hit the floor when he looked at the two dragons. Spyro and Cynder looked at each other and then back to Lum with curious faces.

"Spyro, Cynder it is an honor to meet both of you." The dragon said giving a quick bow. As the lightning dragon spoke his ice dragon friend stared at Cynder with fierce eyes, although the dragoness didn't notice.

"Hi, uh can you tell us what happened here?" Cynder asked stepping forward slightly.

"I thought it was obvious, we were attacked by apes just last night." The yellow dragon explained.

"Did you see any black dragons flying around here when the attacks were going on?" Spyro asked, drawing Lum's eyes to his own.

"No, I never saw any black dragons while the fighting was going on." The dragon explained. Lum looked past the purple dragon then for the first time and verified that there were no other dragons in the room. "Azshea," He said turning his attention to the dragoness who stopped her examination of the room around her. "Where is your mother Azshea?" He asked almost tentatively.

Azshea paused for a long while not sure what about what she should tell the young elder. "She doesn't know we are here, we came of our own accord." The dragoness finally said. Azshea figured it was better to tell the truth now to avoid trouble later.

"Your mother doesn't know where you are!" The dragon yelled his voice suddenly angry. "Azshea have you no heed for your own well-being! You saw and felt for yourself what your mother did when you simply didn't listen to her. How do you expect she will react to this?" The dragon asked.

As Lum spoke the dragoness subconsciously moved a talon to her scar, the wound was still only partially healed. His final question broke her thoughts and she turned her eyes to his. "Some things have happened since I left Lum."

Lum cocked an eyebrow silently asking her to elaborate. Taking the sign the dragoness spoke up. "When we were in Warfang we kind of had a fight. I'm not on speaking terms with her right now."

Lum shook his head. "Azshea we both know how that your mother has a tendency to…" The dragon trailed off as he scratched his chin, and searched for the right word. "Overreact."

"I know but this goes far beyond my own safety. Spyro and Cynder need help and I plan to help them, even if my mother does kill me for it." The dragoness said boldly. The proclamation caused Spyro and Cynder to cringe. The thought of a mother killing their daughter for something so heroic sounded horrible to them. Lum however wasn't fazed by the comment, for he could see it coming to be.

"If this is the path you have chosen then I can do little to deter you from it. I will be here though if you need any help." The dragon said giving a comforting smile.

Azshea smiled back and gave the lightning dragon a quick hug. Lum was taken aback by the dragoness sudden display of affection but did not push away. Azshea seemed to realize what she was doing and pulled away giving a smile. "I think we are going to go and check out the town maybe someone has seen one of the dragons."

Lum nodded but as the dragons turned to go, the ice dragon that had stood quietly spoke up suddenly.

"What about Cynder, Lum?" The elderly ice dragon said to the younger lightning dragon. Lum turned suddenly giving him a questioning stare.

"That dragoness is a black dragon." He said pointing to Cynder who had turned to face the two elders again along with Spyro and Azshea.

"You aren't suggesting-

"I am suggesting it Lum." The ice dragon said before turning his eyes on the black dragoness. "How do we know that you Cynder aren't actually with these so called dragons?"

Cynder reared her head back in partial disgust and surprise. Before she could say anything though she saw Spyro walk up in front of her.

"Do you hear yourself talk?" The purple dragon asked his voice already showing anger. "Cynder has helped me more than any other dragon I have known. She helped me kill Malefor, and now you are questioning her loyalties! I am tired of it! Why can people not just accept that she has changed?" Spyro said his voice trembling. The elder had taken a few steps away from the purple dragon as he had approached him threateningly.

Spyro gave a huff sending small jets of flame out of his nostrils before turning on his paw and walking out. As he left he wrapped his tail around Cynder's giving her a gentle tug. The dragoness, stunned as she was, didn't miss the cue and walked out beside the purple dragon. Azshea looked from the two dragons and back to the elders. Her face was of utter astonishment.

"Go ahead and follow them Azshea." Lum said as he looked to the stunned ice dragon next to him. Azshea didn't need to be told twice and she turned tail and followed the two dragons.

"Spyro I can't believe you would stick up for me like that, especially against elders." Cynder said as the two dragons moved further from the temple.

"Cynder, you don't deserve to be treated like that, and anyone who questions your motives will have me to deal with." The dragon said still fuming.

Cynder smiled and stopped walking, Spyro noticed and stopped as well while turning to Cynder. "Spyro, I couldn't ask for anyone better than you." The dragoness moved in and kissed the dragon.

Sparx who had been floating near them gawked silently; stunned that Cynder would be so bold while others were around.

"Are you two insane?" Azshea asked angrily as she sprinted up to the two dragons not noticing what they were doing. Her words broke their embrace and the two stared at Azshea with blank looks. It was only then that Azshea realized what she had interrupted. She was surprised to find herself blushing more than the couple was. "I'm sorry, I didn't know…" She trailed off not even knowing how to continue.

Sparx looked around at the three dragons and gave a sigh. "Spyro, Cynder," The dragonfly said drawing the two dragons attention. "What were you thinking?"

"Sparx you heard what he was saying about Cynder, I'm sorry but I am not going to stand for it." Spyro said still irritated.

"Alright fine, I agree with you Spyro but that isn't the way to handle it." Azshea said cutting Sparx off. "I just ask that you don't yell at an elder."

"Look, like I said, I'm sorry but I wasn't going to sit by." Spyro said flatly.

"Alright fine, but if we talk to them again, and I'm sure we will at some point, please remember your manners." Azshea said her voice still calm.

Spyro nodded. "Yeah, I'll try but hopefully nothing like this will happen again."

"Look Spyro just don't worry about it. Snow shouldn't have said what he said. If anything I'm happy you taught him a lesson, I'm just afraid of the negative repercussions." The fire dragoness said worriedly.

"Negative repercussions, hopefully not where my dragoness is concerned."

Spyro and Cynder looked around Azshea to spot an earth dragon about their age. The mottled skinned dragon stood smiling happily at the group. Azshea almost laughed before she turned around to give the dragon a nuzzle.

Spyro and Cynder looked to each other with surprise. They had no idea that Azshea had a mate, or at least what they assumed was a mate.

Azshea quickly turned to stand next to the earth dragon who puffed out his tan chest proudly. "Spyro, Cynder this is my best friend Erutos." Azshea said shattering the two dragon's assumptions.

"Happy to meet two dragons of such high standing." Erutos said with a slight bow. Spyro and Cynder nodded in response still looking the dragon up and down. His wings were tan matching his crest. The earth dragon's tail ended in a mace like ball that the two dragons looked at with a slight grimace. "So Azshea I thought you were at Warfang, so what are you doing back here?" The dragon asked turning his dark grey eyes to the fire dragoness.

"There was a change of plans." The dragoness said and turned to the purple and black dragons across from them. "They are hunting some dragons who call themselves the seven dragons of darkness." Azshea explained.

"Huh, never heard of them, but they don't sound like bad news." The earth dragon said looking at the three dragons in turn.

"Well, I said that I would help to hunt them down." Azshea explained.

"Oh, but wouldn't that be dangerous?" Erutos asked a look of concern coming over him.

"Well, no matter what I do eventually the danger will come to us. Better to face it with friends now and be prepared, I say." Azshea said and gave a weak smile.

"Good point." The earth dragon responded having no real argument to the comment. "I wish I could come but I'm required to stay here at the temple."

"Why is that?" Cynder asked speaking for the first time since Erutos had shown up.

"I am supposed to be the next elder. I'm supposed to replace Snow. I'm sure Azshea has introduced you to him." The earth dragon explained.

"Yeah, we just met him." Spyro said trying to hide the unhappiness from his voice.

"Well, I as a matter of fact have to get going to meet him now." The dragon said not noticing his undertone. There's been a lot to do with all the recent ape attacks. Watch yourself out here." Erutos said.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Azshea said disappointment visible in her voice.

"Sorry hun, but I do. I promise I'll see you as soon as I can." Erutos said before giving the dragoness a small kiss. After he broke the embrace he looked back to Spyro and Cynder. "I trust you two to take care of her."

"No problem." Spyro said nodding a bit surprised by the dragons gesture but didn't consider it unorthodox. With the dragon assured he flew off towards the temple and away from the three.

After he left Cynder walked up to Azshea. "He seems like he is a bit more than a friend." She said narrowing her eyes a smile coming over her features.

Azshea turned to face the dragoness the scales around her cheeks turning a darker crimson. "Well, I could say the same for you and Spyro." The fire dragoness said, having no real retort.

"Who says we aren't?" Spyro said, walking to stand closely to Cynder. Both the dragons were now smiling at the squirming dragoness.

"Well, I guess we aren't mates but I have considered him as one." The fire dragoness finally said.

"All of you guys are suddenly in love now?" Sparx said finally speaking up.

The dragons looked at him smiles on all of their faces now. "Feeling a little jealous Sparx?" Azshea asked almost laughing.

Sparx was about to respond when he heard an angry feral growl. The dragonfly looked around his surroundings until he zeroed in on the sound. Up above them on a rooftop was a large ape, fully outfitted in tribal armor and face paint. The screaming animal leapt down from his vantage point at the dragonfly, who moved before the ape even came near to him.

Even if he hadn't moved it wouldn't have mattered, Spyro was already in the air. The dragon neared the falling ape, who now had his wicked blade raised ready to strike. The purple dragon let loose a wave of fire taking the furry creature by surprise. Before the ape could recover Spyro reached him in midair and latched onto its neck. The dragon quickly clamped down turning the apes scream into a gurgle. For good measure Spyro tossed the ape into a nearby building where it crumpled to the ground dead.

The purple dragon landed lightly and looked to the other dragons who looked astonished.

"Another attack?" Spyro asked breaking them from their stupor.

"I can only assume as much." Azshea said. As the dragoness spoke more ape yells split the air from all around the city. "Come on let's see if we can find some apes to kill." The dragoness growled before taking off. Spyro and Cynder nodded before flying off after them.

The three dragons fly for less than a minute before touching down again. The dragons landed next to a lightning dragoness who looked like she was in her teens. The dragoness was quickly being overwhelmed by the apes that hounded her from all sides. Azshea landed first tackling one of the apes to the ground before tearing into him with her sharp talons. As she proceeded she didn't notice another ape sneak up behind her.

Spyro and Cynder landed soon after drawing the ape's attention. One of the beasts pointed their claws and screeched telling its comrades to move in. The apes that had previously had the dragoness surrounded soon left to obey their leaders. As soon as the pressure was off the lightning dragoness turned tail and flew away from the three without a second look.

"Not the most courageous of dragons." Cynder said as she watched the dragoness go. Spyro opened his mouth to respond but instead his maw was filled with shocking light. A stream of yellow energy left his mouth and began to crawl along an ape that had begun to advance on him. Cynder didn't wait for a response as she quickly turned to face her new opponent. The ape decided to charge then and there. Cynder was quicker though as she flipped around and smashed her tail into the beast's gut. As the two dragons fought on more apes came and attacked them, their confidence growling as their numbers increased.

Azshea sensed something from behind her and rolled away from the now dead ape that she had first attacked. As the dragoness rolled away another ape that had been hoping to be stealthy landed where she had been standing. Azshea cringed as she noticed that the ape's blade was pointed downward where she had been moments ago. The dragoness realized then that she wouldn't be alive if she hadn't moved. The fire dragoness took no time in launching a powerful blast of fire scorching the ape. Azshea looked over then to see many apes huddled around one spot. In the center apes flew past their waiting comrades most of them already dead.

The dragoness assumed that Spyro and Cynder were in the center of that mob. Azshea was about to come to their aid when she felt the dirt under her feet rumble. She looked quizzically to the center of the apes. The dragoness gasped when she saw angled spikes of earth burst from the ground impaling more than a few apes. The rest of the creatures that were lucky enough to only witness the attack turned tail and ran afraid of the mighty dragons.

Azshea made her way over to the two dragons who were breathing heavily from the fighting. "Nice moves." The dragoness said giving the two a smile.

Spyro and Cynder looked up to her returning the smile. Their faces turned to ones of horror when they saw the dragoness get slammed into the ground by a dark figure. At first they figured it was Reave but when they looked up they saw a familiar face.

"Astir get off of her!" Spyro yelled furiously already moving forward.

"Now, now I can't let your little band grow now can I?" The black dragon replied looking up to Spyro. Assuming the dragoness was too stunned to move Astir felt he didn't have to aim his deadly tail blade. As he plunged the dagger like metal down he felt a sudden kick to his gut. Azshea had been hurt by the attack but far from stunned. The blade instead of plunging into her heart cut into her shoulder, giving her a large thin gash. The dragoness roared in pain as she felt the blade cut into her flesh.

"Persistent whelp!" Astir yelled, and ripped his tail out planning on plunging it in accurately this time, before he could though, Spyro smashed into his side sending the two dragons off of the fire dragoness.

Astir kicked hard to get away from the enraged purple dragon. The black dragon landed on his feet. He watched as Spyro landed in a roll before coming to his feet also. The dragon was surprised though when the drake didn't advance.

He got an answer to his question soon though although it wasn't the kind of answer he wanted. Cynder slammed into the dragon from behind, the black dragoness falling from the air. She latched on to him and as the two dragons rolled on the ground she managed to score a few hits on him, although she took some herself. Astir once again used his powerful hind legs to kick the dragoness off of him.

"I know when I'm outmatched." The dragon said, simply and turned to leave.

"Are you behind these attacks, Astir?" Spyro asked the black dragon angrily.

Astir shrugged as he spread his wings ready to fly away. "Guess you'll have to follow me if you want to know that one." He said as he took off.

As the black dragon left Spyro and Cynder looked to Azshea who had picked herself off the ground, a red stain had formed where she had been.

"Come on we have to get you fixed up." Cynder said, running over to the dragoness.

"No, we have to follow him, who knows when he'll show up next." The fire dragoness said.

"But, you're injured we-

"No, I'll be fine let's go." Azshea said defiantly cutting the dragoness off. The fire dragoness looked to Cynder who had a hurt and concerned look on her face. "Trust me." She added.

Cynder still looked unconvinced but didn't argue anymore. The dragoness nodded and together they all took off following after Astir who was shrinking in the distance.

Aegis slammed into the dirt. The lightning dragon picked himself up trying his hardest to straighten his vision.

"Face it Aegis you can't win. You couldn't beat me when I was alone and now that Solris is here to you have no chance." Reave spouted off at the struggling dragon.

Aegis growled and from between his teeth he lightning shot forward the crackling energy hitting the large dragon's chest. After the shock the energy gave a final burst sending forth a blinding light. Reave staggered not expecting the attack.

Aegis took his chance and charged forward slamming into the off balance dragon making him tip over and fall on his side. Solris gave a gasp; she had never seen any dragon push Reave to the ground. Aegis landed heavily on the dark dragon's chest and began to tear away at his crest. His claws were sharp but Reave's skin seemed almost impervious to his talons. Seeing the futility of physical attacks Aegis leapt back and prepared another lightning attack, he planned for this one to be the last.

Solris saw the yellow dragon's scales illuminate, the massive energy building inside him ready to burst any second. The dragoness put her thoughts aside and leapt into the air propelling herself faster than Aegis thought conceivable. Solris crashed into Aegis, and sent the defenseless dragon back into the dirt, as he crashed lightning shot forth from his body with a loud crackle.

The drained lightning dragon didn't get up he could hardly keep his eyes open. His golden body was already littered with crimson cuts. Besides the physical impairment his energy had been completely taken from him. The dragon watched the other dragons, who now approached him slowly. As much as he wanted to pure will would not allow him to move his limbs.

He could hardly believe his luck. It had taken him a few days to find Reave again. Unfortunately, when he attacked he didn't see Solris. The dragon knew he had been outmatched but he didn't care. He had to stop Reave, and nothing would stop him.

"You are a foolish one Aegis. I figured you had learned your lesson already. Now you come back, and you come when I have allies here." Reave said, knowing the dragon could hear him. Silently, Aegis cursed his bad luck that he had caught the dragon with one of his friends.

"And now, you have been warned before, so now you die." Reave said his voice void of emotion. At the words Aegis tried even harder to move his body. No matter how hard he tried though he could not move.

"What? You can't do that." Solris said looking from one dragon to the other.

"Solris, I swear to the ancestors I will kill you, if you say another word." Reave said turning darkly on her. Solris shied away slightly but didn't completely move away. Aegis watched the scene play out; his interest captured and he wondered why this dragoness was showing him compassion.

"Fine, but hear me out." The dragoness paused trying to find a convincing reason for Reave to spare this dragon. "If you let him live you can keep him locked up and torture him." The dragoness said hoping to play to the black dragon's cruelty.

A sadistic smile appeared on Reave's face as he considered the thought. "Fine for now then." He said turning back to the lightning dragon still smiling.

Aegis suddenly found himself wishing he hadn't gotten the black dragoness' help. The lightning dragon could only stare back at the Reave before passing out from exhaustion.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry about the long update, I had some writers block with this chapter. Anyway Enjoy!**

Solris watched in disgust as Reave tossed the golden dragon around like a ragdoll. Aegis skipped along the floor of the cave and stopped as he hit the wall. Aegis struggled to get to his feet as the large black dragon approached. The golden dragon jumped over a sudden swipe and then rolled away from a wave of black fire. Aegis was weak from the hours of torment at the claws of the black dragon but he still used what little energy he had left to evade any blows he could.

Aegis sidestepped another attack but Reave's paw slammed down on his tail. Aegis yelped in pain as the large dragon clawed his sides leaving three large gashes. Among the many cuts and bruises he had suffered these appeared to be the worst. The smaller dragon suddenly felt weak and feebly tried to break away from Reave's grip. As Reave moved in to attack again Solris spoke up.

"Reave don't you think, he's had enough for one day."

The black dragon turned and growled at the dragoness but she held her ground unafraid of the large menacing dragon. "Besides we have to get back to the meeting spot before Astir shows up. If we aren't there he'll have our heads."

Reave laughed at the absurdity of the dragoness' comment. "I could kill that dragon without breaking a sweat." He paused thoughtfully before continuing as if he was considering the possibility. "Although you are probably right, let's go then." He said sounding disappointed as he threw Aegis into a corner of the cave where he slumped to the floor.

"Trias keep an eye on him." Reave said talking to a lightning dragon that stood nearby. The dragon nodded and bars of electricity sprouted up and barred off Aegis from the rest of the them.

Reave then lead the way back towards the entrance of the deep cavern with Solris in tow.

Spyro, Cynder, and Azshea flew over the thick forest below them. They had only just left Syrinal and the sounds of battle still roared in the background. The three dragons continued their flight following one small black dragon that could be seen in the distance. They continued to fly in silence for almost an hour, until they saw the dragon drop from the sky. Despite the distance between them the three could tell he had dropped intentionally down into the thick greenery far below them.

"Where do you think he's going?" Cynder asked eyeing the spot where the dragon had plummeted into the forest.

"I don't know, but I guarantee it's a trap." Spyro answered quickly. When he looked over he saw the black dragoness nodding her head in agreement. After confirming that she was ready for a surprise, if it came, Spyro looked back to Azshea who was flying only a few feet behind them.

As he looked back he gasped as he saw the crimson dragoness' wings starting to fold. Spyro spread his wings wide and altered their direction until they were catching the wind, slowing him down. The purple dragon quickly dropped back, when Cynder noticed she gave him a curious look, before she too noticed Azshea and in turn copied Spyro's movements.

The purple dragon slanted his wings to a normal angle again when he lined up with Azshea. "Azshea!" He yelled loudly over the wind.

The red dragoness jolted her head up and beat her wings a few times to steady herself. Azshea looked around in dismay and saw Spyro and Cynder looking at her with worried faces. "W-What?" She asked groggily, as if she had just woken up.

"What happened Azshea?" Cynder asked looking at the dragoness with concern.

"I don't know, I just…" The dragoness trailed off unable to finish her sentence.

"I think I do." Spyro said and pointed down to the dragoness' shoulder. The wound she had received from Astir was still fresh and it had been upset by their flight. Blood flowed slowly down the dragoness' forearm before dripping off to fall into the forest below them. "I knew we should have taken you back to make sure you were okay." Spyro said shaking his head.

"Well, it's too late now." The dragoness said looking at Spyro lazily. "Where did Astir go?" She asked slowly scanning the skies in front of her.

"Oh, right Astir." Cynder said, before looking down in front of her. The black dragoness quickly spotted a small clearing. "I guarantee he went down there, there isn't another landing site around here." The dragoness explained to the two.

Spyro and Azshea nodded and they all dropped down into the forest. The chilling breeze rushed to meet them and Azshea felt herself wake up a bit as she dived through the sky towards the ground. As the scarlet dragoness snapped awake and she began to feel the pain that came from her shoulder again. She felt the blood rolling slowly down her forearm, but she ignored it as she extended her orange wings to their full length in order to catch the air. The three dragons landed lightly in the grassy meadow and began to look around in all directions for the black dragon that had led them here.

"There." Spyro said simply, nodding his head to a lone dark dragon that stood just beyond the open field under the cover of the trees. Almost blending in with the darkness that had recently fallen, Astir turned around and made his way off into the forest, at a slow almost inviting pace, without another word. The three dragons began to move off after him but stopped when they heard a swooshing sound from behind them.

With an earth-shaking slam Reave landed on the ground behind them, a wide smile on his face. To Spyro, Cynder, and Azshea's surprise another dragoness landed near to Reave as well. With much more finesse a black dragoness about their age touched down next to Reave landing without stirring the soft grass beneath her. The three dragons looked between the two each of them with a scowl on their face.

"Go on, we won't stop you." Reave said nonchalantly, waving them away with a paw. The dragons perked up at this not sure how to react to the normally hostile dragon.

"Go on." The dragoness reiterated, in a kind voice. The three dragons stared at each other again. After several tense moments Spyro finally turned away from the two dragons and made his way off towards where he had seen Astir. The purple dragon desperately wanted to turn his head to see if the two black dragons were following him, but he resisted knowing that if they were going to follow him he probably would be able to do nothing about it.

Azshea followed the purple dragon almost immediately after he began to walk away. Cynder however did not follow them quite as quickly. She was staring over at the black dragoness who had landed next to Reave. She couldn't explain why but she knew that this dragoness was different from the others. There was even an air of familiarity about her. Hearing her friends footsteps grow farther away the black dragoness turned and swiftly caught up with Spyro and Azshea.

As they moved along silently Azshea looked to her friends. "You know this is a trap right?" She said bluntly.

Spyro shrugged. "Yeah, but even if it is all we could do is leave and if we did that we wouldn't find out anything."

"I think we can handle them if there is any trouble." Cynder said, expelling a few tufts of black fire from her nostrils.

"Do you guys need a reminder of last time?" Sparx asked, and the dragons all turned to face him. "Reave, alone kicked both your butts. If there's more around here then I think you are all toast."

"Thanks for the encouragement." Azshea said sarcastically.

"Either way we have to try, otherwise all of this will have been a waste." Spyro said striding forward.

The three dragons continued on their way. As they walked through the dense and dark forest they saw glimpses of Astir, or who they thought was Astir. Sparx's words had stuck in their minds and the dragons wondered if they were seeing Astir or his co hearts. The group followed the shifting shadows that appeared to be the dark dragon. The dragon seemed to be leading them along no particular path and it was rarely the easiest path. Finally, after almost a half hour of walking the dragons approached a cave entrance.

They watched as Astir backed into the dark cavern, his body disappearing, first leaving only his sharp red eyes to stare out at them before they too were covered by darkness.

After the dragon had vanished Sparx spoke up. "Dragons in a cave, classic."

"Quite." Cynder agreed.

"Well Sparx, you're going in first." Spyro said looking up at his brother.

"What why me? I can't fight!" The dragonfly protested shaking his tiny fists in the air as if to exemplify his point.

"Really I thought you could." Azshea said more to herself than anyone else. The other dragons cracked a smile at the comment but Sparx only continued to scowl.

"I know you can't fight Sparx but you're going to be our light." Spyro explained.

"Great, I'm no better than a lantern." The dragonfly resigned as he turned and floated slowly towards the cave. The dragons followed after him. None of them were happy about having Sparx go first but he would be the only way for them to see. Spyro, in an effort to make the dragonfly feel more comfortable moved closer to the point where he was almost directly under his brother. The four entered the cave without looking back.

Terrodar, Volteer, and Cyril entered the great circular room in the dragon temple. The guards that stood outside still bore a few wounds from when Spyro and Cynder had broken in, but gave the guardians a gracious bow and allowed them inside without a sour look. The three took a seat near to the door and scanned the room. The large circular room was the top floor of the dragon temple in Warfang. If the dragons had sat very still and concentrated they might have felt the tower sway slightly in the breeze. Inside the room dragons from all over sat in a large circle lining the wall. Directly across from the entrance was a raised platform. On it were four dragons, one of each element, the guardians.

When the elder dragons looked to the guardians they got no verbal or silent response. Three pairs of eyes stared right through them, telling them that they were unwelcome. Tera on the other hand gave a slight smile hoping to counteract some of the damage that her fellow guardians had caused. The three dragons however took no head of the young guardians looks and only gave polite smiles to Tera.

"Welcome everyone, to this meeting of the guardians. Now let's get started and hopefully get something accomplished today." Blaze said looking around the room at each of the dragons in turn, although he skipped over the ex-guardians. Tera wished she could walk over and beat some respect into the dragon; his attitude was really starting to get on her nerves. As she sat in her spot seething the other dragons began to talk.

"What about the recent attack on Syrinal?" One large electric dragoness asked after several minutes. "What do you propose we should do about that?" The question sent the room into a tumult of talking each dragon having his or her own opinion on the matter. The sudden outburst brought Tera from her own thoughts and back to the problems at hand.

"They haven't asked for help yet. So I see no need to help them." Blaze answered over the others in room, his comment quieting quite a few in the room.

"I believe they sent an ambassador here, to discuss that very subject with you." The lightning dragoness pressed.

"She said what she had to say and we made a ruling on it already." Blaze said he temper rising.

"Unless," Tera cut in. "Our dear Ashe wants to reintroduce the subject." The earth dragoness said looking to the slender fire dragoness. Tera had never cared for the dragoness, for she had heard how the dragoness had acted. Never the less the dragoness felt compelled to give Ashe another chance to help her town which was obviously getting desperate.

"Ashe?" The earth dragoness reiterated when she saw that the fire dragoness hadn't moved her head or even made any move to speak. After a moment of silence the fire dragoness looked up at her sadly. Tera noted that her eyes had become watery and she looked at the dragoness quizzically.

"Oh, great ancestors." Blaze said noting the two females, more noting Ashe's eyes. He rubbed his head as he talked drawing a scowl from Tera.

"What is it, Ashe?" Tera asked turning back to the fire dragoness.

"I'm sorry guardian." The female started, and those words alone caught everyone in the room off guard. They had never seen a softer side of the usually raging fire dragoness. "I have just been caught up in the events of my own life."

"Maybe you could, oh I don't know, not drag us into this." Blaze said leering down at the dragoness.

"Shut it Blaze!" Tera yelled, ending the whispering and drawing the undivided attention of everyone in the room. Blaze surprisingly sat back and closed his mouth allowing the females to speak.

"Now go on Ashe." Tera said regaining her calm composure.

"I am sorry once again; I just cannot help but worry about my daughter."

"Your daughter?" Tera asked. After a quick examination of the room she realized that Azshea was nowhere to be found. "Where is Azshea?" She asked.

"She said that she would help Spyro and Cynder. I fear for her safety though, I think they went to Syrinal and it was just attacked." The dragoness explained seemingly on the verge of a breakdown.

"I'm still sticking by my decision." Blaze said before Tera could make a snide remark about his decision to not send help to Syrinal.

Terrodar stood up and walked over to the dragoness. He and the other dragons had been listening to Ashe's story and he felt compelled to do something about it. The guardians and the others eyed him suspiciously. No one knew why the old guardians had attended this meeting and no one had asked them.

"I believe we can help you with your problem." He said to the adult dragoness.

"How could you help me?" The dragoness sniffed tears welling in her eyes.

"Spyro and Cynder are bound to show up to talk to us. I am sure that Azshea will be with them." The earth dragon said comfortingly.

"Remind me again why you three are here? It's not like it's your job to watch over us." Blaze asked looking down on the dragon from his pedestal.

Terrodar let out an audible growl, the fire guardian was starting to annoy him. Before he could voice a retort, Volteer cut him off. "We have only taken an interest in our city; surely we are allowed to hear about such things after all that we have done."

"Yeah, yeah you're great, now why don't you go take care of this traumatized dragoness." Blaze said waving a dismissive claw at them.

"I warn you young one, you may be a guardian but you should take care to respect your elders." Cyril said cutting off Volteer.

"So I've been told. Can you go now?" Blaze said narrowing his eyes.

Terrodar was about to put the dragon in his place when he saw something he didn't expect. Tera's paw slammed the marble in front of her. In response a chunk of the stone floor in front of Blaze shot through the air to slam into the dragon's jaw with a resounding crack. A communal gasp went up from all around the room, as the dragons looked between the two young dragons to see what would happen next. Blaze grunted and rubbed his chin before glaring at Tera.

"What are you doing?" He growled.

"They are right you know. Respect your elders." Tera said in a mocking tone.

"Please you two stop now. We are guardians not children, and we must act as such." Krista said intervening before the situation grew out of hand.

Blaze growled again and continued to glare at Tera. The earth dragoness however did not pay him any heed. "Terrodar, Cyril, Volteer, I apologize for my fellow guardian's manners. If you would be so kind, you may take Ashe to wait for her daughter." The three dragons nodded in response and Ashe looked up at Tera with grateful eyes.

"Ashe, for now you are relieved of duty for now, but once you have assured your daughter's safety I would like you to rejoin the meetings."

"Of course and thank you guardian." Ashe said, and gave a deep bow that once again astounded everyone in the room.

Srix, the guardian of lightning, watched quietly as the events played out, his keen eyes surveying every movement and action that occurred. As the four older dragons left the room, even he did not notice Ashe's subtle and cunning smile.

Sparx flew slowly through the cave. Occasionally, he yelped as a shadow on the wall moved, although it always turned out to be nothing. His yelps were often met with a "ssshhh" sound from the three dragons that walked behind him. After several minutes of walking through the cavern path the group came to a large open area.

"Where do you think he went?" Spyro whispered. Despite his attempt to be quite his voice echoed all around the stone room. The question was answered by maniacal laughter. All of the friends froze on the spot afraid of what would leap at them out of the shadows.

"I'm right here Spyro." They heard a voice say, and each recognized it as Astir. With a dreadful roar the dragon leaped out of the darkness and tackled Spyro, sending the two dragons out of the area that Sparx was lighting. They listened closely and heard the two dragons grunted and clawing at each other on the ground each trying to get the upper hand.

They hardly had time to listen to their friend though as suddenly Azshea was caught by the same method. A dragon that neither even saw snatched her up and sent her tumbling across the floor. Cynder however fared slightly better seeing the attack coming the dragoness dove to the side. Her prediction was correct and Reave slammed down where she had been standing moments before. She growled at the large dragon waiting for him to make the first move. Reave shot forward and on reflex Cynder jumped into the air to avoid his hulking body.

Just as the dragoness thought she was safe Cynder felt another airborne dragon slam into her. The black dragoness lost her balance and fell through the air into the waiting jaws of Reave. The large black dragon caught Cynder in his mouth; he bit down puncturing her skin. The dragoness gave a roar of protest, before he snapped his neck down and sent the dragoness hurtling straight into the stone floor. The hard ground ended the black dragoness' cry.

Spyro, upon hearing the abrupt end to Cynder's roar immediately summoned much of his strength and let loose a massive pillar of fire. Astir was already out of the way, but the flames successfully lit up the room for a short period of time giving Spyro a short vantage of Cynder, who lay on the ground, most likely unconscious. The dragon had to quickly turn back to his own fight though as Astir plunged his deadly tail towards him. Spyro ducked out of the way before leaping towards the dragon. Catching the dragon he began to tear away at him furiously.

The pillar of fire lit up the room, and Azshea finally saw what had hit her. She was awestruck when she looked up to see a lightning dragon that showed no signs of corruption. She began to mouth a question but Trias began to claw at her. The dragoness composed herself as quickly as possible while accepting a few hits and then tugged on the dragon flipping him over so that she was on top of him. Azshea jumped back and spit a few balls of fire at the dragon. Before her attack even neared him the yellow dragon had rolled away. Trias rolled in a semi-circle and as he came to his feet he kept his momentum and slammed his tail into the dragoness. Azshea hit the ground and rolled in the dirt several times before stopping, the dusty ground stinging her wounds.

Azshea's forearm ached, the bloody wound had been covered in dirt and was opening further due to the fighting. The fire dragoness began to struggle to her feet. Her knees were wobbly and she hardly knew what she would do once she was standing. She looked up and only saw darkness, excluding the small area of light where a flustered Sparx had no idea what to do.

"Quite persistent." She heard a voice say, which she could only surmise was the lightning dragon, before she saw a bright yellow light. A ball of electrically energy flew forth and slammed into the dragoness the energy beginning to course through her body, sending small arcs of electricity to crawl along her scales. The overall shock sent her tumbling back a few more feet. She hardly realized it though for her body was completely numb. The fire dragoness passed out soon after.

Spyro clawed away at Astir. The purple dragon didn't know it, for blind rage was leading him on now and he could hardly see in the dark, but he wasn't doing any damage to the dragon. His claws were often misplaced or at a wrong angle and he never actually broke through Astir's meager defenses.

A sudden force, from Reave's paw knocked Spyro back across the ground where he rolled into the luminescence that was being given off by Sparx. The purple dragon came up on wobbly legs next to a slowly rising Cynder.

"What happened?" She asked groggily stumbling slightly as she tried to regain her bearings.

Spyro didn't have time to answer as he saw a movement in the shadows and let loose a wave of searing flames. The fire lit up the room temporarily showing all three dark dragons who were outside the small ring of light.

As the fire died away, the two heard Astir's voice in the darkness. "How does it feel to be hopelessly surrounded?"

Spyro and Cynder gave no response they just looked around them at the darkness, trying to follow the dragon's voice.

Astir laughed. "Look at you two. You're weak! Weak and scared." The dragon paused and the only sound that could be heard was the clicking of claws on the ground and the breathing of each dragon. "Well, I have good news for you both. You won't die in here, not yet at least. No, we have other plans for you."

"Like what?" Spyro asked.

A giant black tail whipped out of the darkness. Reave's tail easily toppled the two dragons. Reave moved in on the fallen friends. "I'm going to enjoy your stay." He said smiling evilly.

The dragon looked down at the two and used one of his massive paws to bat Cynder away. The dragoness skipped away across the ground and stopped right by Solris who twitched at the sight of the bloody and beaten dragoness.

Spyro rolled out of the way as a glob of poison that was spat at him. As the dragon got to his feet again he almost fell over, his exhaustion was finally getting to him. He jumped back as he saw Astir lung for him. Before the purple dragon could land on the ground, he found himself snatched up and suspended in the air. Reave's tail curled around the dragon keeping him from using his claws or maw to retaliate. The tail curled tighter and Spyro found himself unable to breathe. The dragon coughed expelling a few small tufts of fire as he tried to summon his breath attack. The dragon finally felt the ensuing darkness close in as he ran out of oxygen and he lost consciousness falling limp in Reave's death grip.

Reave noted this and quickly unwrapped his tail and gave it a flick hurling the purple dragon into a nearby wall, where he fell to the ground unmoving.

"Take them to the cell." Astir said before turning from the three other dragons.

Reave, Solris, and the lightning dragon all carried one of the dragons down a long winding path, the dragons took a few turns that lead them down deeper into the extensive cave. When they finally came to their destination they found a medium sized area. Baring it off were columns of pure electricity. The lightning dragon waved his paw and the energy dispersed. The dark dragons threw the three friends inside, next to a golden scaled dragon, who was also unconscious. Sparx quickly flew in after them, not sure what else he could do. The dragonfly knew that the dark dragons had noticed him; he was hard to miss in a dark cave. He found it odd that they hadn't even given him so much as a look but he figured it was just because he was no harm to them.

After they were all in the cell the lightning dragon concentrated and the beams of electricity reformed themselves.

"You are sure that this will hold them, Trias?" Reave asked looking down at the lightning dragon.

"I'm sure; no one could negate that barrier." Trias responded.

Reave turned his stare to Aegis who still lay unconscious inside the cell. "Aegis is a strong one, but if you say it will hold I'll trust you." The three dragons turned and walked away without a word.

Hours passed in the cell until Spyro woke up. His eyes snapped open and he pushed himself up to a sitting position. The dragon immediately regretted it though as a wave of nausea came over him. The purple dragon sat very still and managed after several long minutes to settle his stomach. The dragon looked around the lit up cell. He saw Cynder lying down next to Azshea. Only Cynder was awake but both dragons looked like they were in bad shape.

"Glad to see you're awake Spyro." Cynder said, not moving from her position, and only eyeing the dragon. Spyro slowly got up and made his way over to the dragoness before lying down next to her.

"Are you okay?" Spyro asked the dragoness.

"I'm doing alright; I would be worried about her." Cynder said nodding to Azshea. In truth Cynder felt terrible, her body pained her all over and she could feel numerous cuts on her hide that were probably bleeding but she ignored them.

"Do you think she'll make it?" Spyro dared to ask.

"I think so, but it really depends on how fast we can get out of here and get back to Warfang or Syrinal. She's lost a lot of blood, but thankfully her wound from Astir has stopped bleeding."

"Has she woken up yet?"

"Only for little periods of time."

As if on cue Azshea groaned and slowly opened her eyes. The dragoness hardly moved for she didn't have the energy to do so. Her eyes slowly scanned the room until they rested on Spyro seeing that he was awake.

"Spyro?" She asked her one word question was soft and almost incomprehensible.

"It's okay Azshea we're going to get you out of here." The purple dragon said, soothingly. He tried to keep the worry from his voice but even he could tell that had done a poor job.

Azshea gave a small nod and it appeared as though she would say something else but instead she fell back asleep.

"So what's the plan?" Spyro asked looking back towards Cynder.

"I think we should first worry about him." Cynder said, pointing her snout towards the dragon who lay passed out in the corner of the cell. Spyro hadn't noticed him before but now the dragon was intrigued and he slowly worked his way over to examine the dragon. Upon getting a closer look at him he saw that the lightning dragon was covered in wounds, each of them making Spyro cringe slightly. Three large gashes crossed down his side, and for a moment Spyro thought he was dead, until he saw his steady but weak breathing.

"Who do you think he is?" Cynder asked, from the other side of the room.

"I don't know." Spyro said as he leaned down to get a closer look at the dragon.

As the purple dragon inspected the unconscious dragon's face, he saw to his surprise, the lightning dragon's eyes snap open to reveal piercing green orbs.

Lightning crackled as the dragon roared.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry about another long update, spring break made me really lazy. Anyway enjoy!**

Spyro jumped back as the crackle of lightning buzzed around lighting up in the yellow dragon's maw. The sudden awakening had caught them all off guard and none of them had any time to react in any sort of way. The lightning dragon's eyes narrowed to slits, this was more to compensate for the harsh and abrupt light that was being given off by the nearby pillars of electricity than anything else. Spyro, Cynder and Azshea didn't realize this though and assumed that the dragon was preparing to attack.

Aegis looked over at the three dragons. On instinct he picked out Cynder. The dragoness had a vague resemblance to the dark dragoness that had attacked him earlier. Aegis, on pure instinct and a good amount of fear, released the energy from his mouth. If he had considered his action then he wouldn't have attacked, for while the two dragoness' looked the same there were a few very obvious differences.

The lightning bolt crackled across the short expanse and hit the surprised dragoness in her shoulder, the bolt striking into her shoulder with a loud cackle followed closely by the dragoness' roar of pain.

Spyro looked from one to the other, rage apparent on his features. The purple dragon leapt from his spot and struck the golden dragon across the face with his claws leaving three thin lines of blood.

"Are you stupid or something?" Spyro asked outraged by the sudden attack on his dragoness. The words were lost on Aegis though as he sat there his initial shock slowly wearing off. Spyro continued to swipe at the yellow dragon, but made sure that he would keep him alive and not go to deep, he wanted answers for what just happened. Aegis accepted the blows for a few moments hardly noticing the pain. He could not look away from Cynder, who was trying in vain to nurse her own wound. He also noted another dragoness who had been lying out of sight behind Cynder. The fire dragoness was slowly rising to her feet and moving over to help her friend. The yellow dragon stared at her allowing his mind to see what he had not seen before. The dragoness did look like the one that had attacked him along with Reave but he knew now that it wasn't her. Still the dragon saw a striking similarity but he didn't really have time to ponder it, as he saw another set of sharp talons headed for his face.

Aegis moved his own forearm out to intercept Spyro's attack, his scaly arm stopping Spyro's strike effortlessly. The purple dragon looked to him in surprise. "Get off." Aegis said simply, his voices calm and collected, although he never made eye contact with Spyro, his eyes were still locked on Cynder. The fire dragoness that Aegis did not recognize was trying to do something to help Cynder but found that she really could be of no help to the black dragoness.

"What? No!" Spyro yelled drawing Aegis' attention again. Seeing that the purple dragon was beyond reasoning with, Aegis flicked his wrist against Spyro's claw. Spyro was surprised by the dragon's shear physical strength. The slight movement had put him off balance and as quick as lightning itself Aegis spun around using his tail to sweep out the violet dragon's legs. Spyro fell to the ground roughly and the lightning dragon stood up and walked over to the black dragoness.

"Are you alright?" Aegis asked upon nearing her. He made sure to keep a bit of distance since the dragoness would most likely not react well to him, after what he had done.

Cynder looked up in anger but her scowl did little to deter the stern dragon. "What are you doing? Are you trying kill us?" The dragoness said angry still dominant in her voice but her confusion was also evident. She had never had someone attack her and then ask her if she was okay.

"I am sorry; you look like one of them." Aegis stated his voice breaking from its flat tone to an apologetic one.

"What, do you mean one of the seven?" Spyro asked as he made his way over to the two. As the purple dragon reached his destination he brought his tail up swiftly to have its point resting below Aegis' maw. Spyro had no idea whose side this dragon was on but he wasn't taking any more risks.

Aegis eyed him suspiciously but only responded. "Is that what they call themselves?"

"Yes, that is what they call themselves." Spyro stated flatly.

"Are you sure you aren't with them yourself?" Aegis asked looking directly at Cynder, who bared her teeth and growled in response to the question. Last he had heard Cynder was still evil. "The Terror of the Skies." He added and he felt Spyro's tail press into his throat. The purple dragon quickly recoiled though as he felt a large shock shoot up his tail sending his whole body into a temporary numbness. He looked to Aegis to see electricity running along his body and a small smile of triumph on his face.

"She isn't evil anymore she helped me defeat Malefor." Spyro explained his voice on the edge of anger. Aegis eyed them both suspiciously for a moment before nodding his head. Cynder didn't look like she used to anyway. He had seen her a few times during her reign and she was much different now.

"Look who are you?" Spyro asked taking a step forward and eyeing the dragon up and down.

"My name is Aegis." The dragon said.

"Alright well I am Spyro, this is Cynder but you already knew that, and she," Spyro paused to point to Azshea who was standing up now. "She is Azshea."

"Hey, what about me, or am I not important enough?" Sparx asked, flying down to hover at eye level so that the dragons could easily see him.

"This is Sparx." Spyro added looking from his brother to Aegis.

When Aegis didn't respond to the introductions Spyro continued. "Look we are all trapped in here so, I suggest for now we figure out a way to get around these electric barriers." With that sentence Spyro turned to Cynder. Aegis could hear a "Are you okay?" from the purple dragon. He could only assume that the dragoness was not, his attack had been a small one. He heard the purple dragon breath loudly as Spyro blew a layer of frost onto Cynder's wound. The dragoness cooed in response to the cooling ice before giving the purple dragon a little lick.

Aegis looked forward at the electricity that blocked them in. "We aren't trapped in here." He said suddenly bringing everyone's attention back to him. The dragons were still edgy around the newcomer.

"What did you say?" Spyro asked, not believing that the dragon could find a way out that fast.

"I said that I can get us out of here. Do I need to say it in simpler terms or can I just get us out?"

The purple dragon scowled at the dragon's sarcasm but motioned for him to go through with his plan. Aegis stepped back and took a deep breath. The golden dragon then slowly began to walk towards the wall of electricity. As he approached Sparx spoke up. "If his plan is to just walk into a wall of pure electricity, then I don't think he really has a plan."

Aegis ignored the dragonfly and continued his walk breathing steadily. Right as the dragon reached the barrier he launched his body forward. As Aegis leapt forward there was a bright flash and Spyro turned his body and spread his wings to shade the two dragoness' that were behind him. When the flash faded he turned around to see Aegis standing just past where the wall of electricity had been.

Occasionally, the yellow dragon had massive static shocks that burst from his hide in a flurry of voltage. Spyro walked up to him and moved to grab the dragon's shoulder to get his attention.

Aegis sensed the movement and quickly rolled away from the purple dragon, bringing a hum from his body as the energy rolled around. Spyro looked at him in surprise.

"If you touch me right now, you would probably get a shock big enough to make you combust." Aegis explained to the purple dragon, electricity jumping between his teeth as he spoke. Spyro cringed at the thought of the gruesome death.

"Well, thanks for warning me." He said and Aegis only nodded in response. It was the least he could do after what he had done to Cynder. "Okay, let's go then we have to get out of here." The purple dragon continued as Cynder and Azshea worked their way closer to him.

"You three go." Aegis said flatly turning away from them.

"What about you?" Cynder asked shakily.

"I have no need to go with you." Aegis said simply. "I have repaid you debt for hurting you before, but now we part ways."

"You won't leave this place?" Spyro asked astounded by what the dragon was saying.

"I will, but I will do it on my own, so go."

Spyro tried to find words to argue with but they would not come. "Thank you then, for breaking us out." He said with a sigh before turning to go.

Aegis remained silent as the three dragons walked away, his only movement being the small twitches from the extreme amounts of electricity still welling within him.

The yellow dragon watched the others leave but did not move himself. He had to get a grip on all of the energy inside him first. He could have easily released it but he had a different idea in mind. The dragon knew that Reave must still be around here somewhere. The dragon decided that with this much power he could end this fight once and for all. With these thoughts in his mind the dragon slowly made his way down the dark tunnel.

Spyro, Cynder, and Azshea walked down the tunnel the only light coming from Sparx. The glow made everything seem eerie, but as intimidating as the glow was the dragons welcomed it, for without it none of them could see anything, except for Cynder who could still make out some things in the dark. The dragons took yet another turn down one of the many twisting tunnels. The natural caverns expanded and narrowed without warning, the many winding paths making the place seemingly impossible to navigate. The dragons were really relying on luck to guide them through since none of them knew the way to the main entrance of the cave.

As they wandered through they counted themselves lucky that none of the dark dragons had shown up. In their condition they knew that they couldn't hope to match them.

"So Spyro do you actually know where you are going or are you just wandering randomly through these creepy tunnels?" Sparx asked finally, looking around at the rock walls nervously.

"I am just going with my gut feeling Sparx." The dragon responded not looking back.

"So you _are_ just wandering." Sparx said, hanging his head in sadness.

"You know maybe we shouldn't talk." Cynder said looking at Sparx.

"Oh, you act like I'm the only one that ever makes noise, or talks for long periods of time, about nothing at all…" The dragonfly trailed off until he was mumbling to himself.

"Right anyway, like I was saying, anyone could be around a corner in here, so maybe we shouldn't alert everything around us to our presence." The dragoness continued ignoring the dragonfly.

Spyro nodded completely agreeing with the black dragoness. A sudden quake made all of the dragons stop in place, and caused Sparx to stop his mumbling.

"Please don't tell me the mountain is coming down on us. I really don't want to freeze in time for another three years." Sparx said looking around at the shaking walls.

Azshea looked up to the dragonfly. "What?" She asked in complete surprise.

Sparx shook his head, "I'll tell you some other time."

The tunnel around them continued to shake and suddenly only a few feet before them a giant tube like creature burst through the wall on their right. The gigantic worm like creature crossed the small path and broke though the other wall, never slowing. The thing must have been at least eighteen feet in diameter. The dragons looked at the thing astounded and after it passed they looked at the hole it created with equal amazement. After it vanished into the wall again Spyro looked back to the others. "Alright we need to get out of here now. I think that these tunnels are so confusing because those things are still forming more down here, not to mention that they are probably hostile."

The others only nodded still too shocked for words. The dragons continued on at as quick of a pace that they could muster. Their injuries were so great that they could hardly run so they had to be satisfied with a quick walk although each of them only wanted to get out of there faster.

As the three made a turn down another tunnel they came into what they assumed was a fairly large cavern. The three dragons at first were relieved thinking that they had somehow made it back to where they had fought with the dark dragons.

The dragons were about to start rejoicing when they heard a clicking sound. They all froze none of them daring to move. The clicking sound continued, and eventually other clicking sounds met the first's call. Obviously there was more than one of whatever was in the cavern.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Spyro said narrowing his eyes and looking around trying to see what was plaguing them. As much as he looked though he could not find anything.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Cynder said, and Spyro looked at her questioningly. "I can see them." She continued her voice soft now. While being a black dragon had its faults one gain was that Cynder could see in the dark to a certain extent.

"Would you like to tell us what you see maybe?" Sparx said, trying very hard to keep his nervous voice low.

"It's like they are…giant bugs." She said slowly. "They are talking with each other I think. I think they…they want to eat us." She said her voice trembling.

"Well then let's get out of here!" Sparx said quickly through clenched teeth. As he spoke he began to back away but a sharp hiss stopped him.

"Too late. Move!" The dragoness yelled and dove to the side.

Suddenly the clicking sounds got very close. As the dragons rolled away two chitin claws embedded themselves into the dirt where they had been standing. Spyro stole a glance at the claws. The ghastly appendages were bigger than his body and looked like they were capable of tearing him in two. The purple dragon roared launching flames into the air at where he thought the bug would be. He knew he was hopeless in the dark so he would have to use his element constantly to keep the place lit.

As the flames burst forward Spyro saw the giant creature for a split second. A giant worm like creature was there. Although its body looked like a worm two massive armored legs sat at the end of its body. In front were forearms that resembled those of a praying mantis. The massive chitin blades looked as though they could slice through anything. The most horrifying feature though was its mouth. Where any normal creature would keep its head there was only a massive circular mouth. Sharp deadly rows of teeth surrounded the outer edge of the mouth. It appeared to the dragon as though there were a few rows of the sharp teeth but he couldn't be sure. If the bug had any eyes, nose, or ears they must have been very small for the Spyro made out no such features.

Spyro shook the gruesome image from his mind and let loose another wave of fire hoping to sear the fiend's flesh. The fire only made the creature hiss in protest and bend away. Spyro had to stop his attack and jump out of the way as he heard another of the creatures behind him swing one of its own massive claws. The dragon spun in mid-air and gave a massive roar belching up another wave of fire. The flames licked at the bug's skin and the beast recoiled quickly.

Spyro landed and tried to find his way around the room. He knew in the back of his mind that these would most likely be his last moments alive. He could hear the creatures stirring all around him.

Aegis wandered through the caverns. The yellow dragon had already made his way to the entrance of the cave. He had purposely turned back knowing that Reave had to be somewhere inside. He was now working his way back down through the caverns. He had felt vibrations through the stone but hadn't given them much head.

The electricity that still coursed through his body was sapping more of his strength. His head was starting to ache along with his muscles. The constant hum of the energy was starting to get on his nerves. He would have to find Reave and soon before he lost control of the power inside him.

The dragon trudged along slowly. He could hardly see where he was going but that didn't stop him. His other senses had sharpened and he could make his way around fairly easily. A sudden crash and a roar caught his attention. The dragon knew it must be Reave, who else would still be in the cave. He figured that Spyro and his group had left already since he had found his way out so easily how could they not.

The dragon charged off down the tunnel eager to get at Reave.

Cynder slammed against the wall as a large claw bashed into her body. The dragoness roared as she felt the massive claws sink into her wings. One claw in each leathery membrane, that kept her pinned against the wall. The dragoness squirmed in vain only succeeding making the holes in her wings bigger.

As the dragoness' mind rushed trying to figure out what she could possibly do she could see the worm's massive head closing in on her. The menacing teeth where rattling hungrily. The mouth closed in bring with it rancid breath. The dragoness almost threw up at the smell, but managed to hold on to her stomach and think.

As the mouth closed in Cynder got an idea. The dragoness held back for a few moments. Poison built up inside her mouth and when she felt that it would overflow she spit the glob straight into the oncoming mouth. The worm recoiled feeling something enter its mouth, which it knew was not the dragoness. The worm cringed and withdrew its claws before writhing in the dirt.

Cynder fell to the ground and tried to pick herself up. As she did she spat a few more globs of poison at the already flailing creature for good measure. The green poison melted through the bug's skin sending into even more spasms.

Azshea fell on the ground. She knew that Spyro and Cynder were fighting all around her, the bugs where everywhere and she counted herself lucky that none of them had found her since she had no energy to fight. As much as she wanted to help she could not move her body. The dragoness tried to lift herself up. She got to her feet. She wobbled and almost fell back to the ground. The dragoness kept herself up and after a moment launched a fire attack hoping to see what was going on. The cave lit up and Azshea's eyes widened in fear. Only a few feet in front of her was an enormous worm. As the flames faded the monster screeched and Azshea knew it had launched its head forward to swallow her up. The dragoness closed her eyes although it made no difference in the darkness.

Aegis sprinted across the cavern floor. He had seen the flames that had come from Azshea's maw, giving him a general idea of what was going on. He ignored the garish bugs. The lightning dragon leapt for Azshea. Right before he smashed into Azshea he held in his energy to keep it from harming the fire dragoness.

Aegis slammed into the dragoness and pushed her out of the way. Azshea somehow landed on her feet and let loose some more fire in order to see what was going on since she didn't even know what had hit her. She saw a brief glimpse of the lightning dragon before the darkness came back.

"Aegis!" She yelled trying to warn him about the giant worm.

Aegis was about to respond when he felt himself become enclosed inside something that was far from pleasant for him. The worm slammed into the ground catching the dragon in his mouth.

Spyro hearing the dragoness cry let loose a large burst of fire. The flames would have gone out a second later but the dragon was in luck. The attack burnt one of the creatures lighting it on fire. While it was gruesome the worm acted as a sort of torch lighting up the room for the moment.

The giant worm that had swallowed Aegis slowly turned its body towards Azshea ready to consume its original target. As it closed in a sudden glow appeared inside its stomach. The worm shuddered but still tried to get at Azshea who was backing away from the massive threat. The glow grew bigger until finally there was a burst of energy. Lightning shot out from all over the worm's body, the beams of energy eventually lighting up the whole room. With one final screech the worm disintegrated. The other creatures screeched in protest to the unordinary bright light and burrowed away through the stone. None of them wishing to stay around and face the enemy that had just arrived.

As the light faded Aegis fell to the ground with a dull thud. Azshea was the first to reach him using small puffs of fire to guide her through the now dark cave. The fire dragoness leaned down to ensure that he was still breathing.

"Are you alright?" She asked worried that the dragon had overdone it or been killed by the worm.

"I was just digested by a worm, what do you think?" The lightning dragon said, lifting himself up slowly.

By this point Spyro, Cynder and Sparx had made their way over, Sparx shedding some light on the dragons. For the most part all of them had made it out without too much damage. Cynder's biggest wounds were the two holes in her wings. Spyro only had a few scratches on his body. Aegis who they all thought would have the worst injuries was actually not in terrible shape. Despite being swallowed whole he only seemed to be a little jostled and worn from the tremendous attack.

"Aegis I thought you weren't going to be with us anymore." Spyro said getting the golden dragon's attention.

"Would you have rather had me not show up?" The dragon asked staring at the dragon a hint of anger in his eyes.

"No, it's just that you seemed pretty intent on going on by yourself." Spyro explained trying to correct his sentence.

"Yeah, well to be honest, I didn't really come to help you guys, and I certainly didn't come to be eaten."

"Why did you come then?" Cynder asked cocking her head to the side.

"I heard noises coming from over here, fighting mostly. I figured it was Reave, or maybe it was you three fighting him, I came looking for Reave not for you." Aegis said making his motives quite clear.

"Well, either way you saved my life so, I owe you one." Azshea said thankfully.

Aegis just nodded at the fire dragoness. He didn't mind helping her out of a tight spot but he didn't expect anything in return.

"How did you even do that?" Spyro asked looking at Aegis in awe.

The question jogged the dragon from his thoughts. "You remember that energy from the prison we were in." Spyro nodded in response distinctly remembering the dragon absorbing the electric energy. "After I was swallowed up I let the energy loose, I guess it did the trick."

"I'll say." Sparx said.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? We could use your help." Spyro said hoping that the powerful electric dragon would accept his offer.

Aegis didn't speak for a long time mulling over the idea in his brain. In his mind he knew that having allies would be the best way to deal with Reave, somewhere in the back of his mind though he knew that it was a bad idea.

"I'll escort you to the entrance of the cave but from there I'm leaving." The dragon said.

"Why?" Azshea asked. The lightning dragon just walked away never answering the fire dragoness. The other dragons just followed not knowing what else they could do.

The group slowly worked their way through the cave. Aegis although he had already found the exit found it much easier to move with Sparx lighting up the area around him. With the added light he could pick his path much easier. Thoughts still weighed heavily on his mind. He heard the other dragons talking behind him but he paid them no heed. He was trying to figure out what to do about Reave. He had used up the energy that would have made his fight much easier. The thoughts weighed heavily in his mind; it almost struck him as crazy to strike down the dragon. Their history together flitted through his thoughts, and made him second guess his motives. Perhaps killing Reave was not the answer. Maybe there was another way. He stole a glance back to Cynder, that dragoness had escaped Malefor's grasp, perhaps it was possible to do the same with Reave.

All these thoughts swirled thickly through the dragon's head. He was so distracted that he didn't even notice the light flooding into the tunnel from the nearby entrance. He also didn't notice the figure in the doorway.

"Well, well, the heroes have escaped." Trias said as he stood up in the entrance.

All of the dragons were alerted by his voice and they quickly dropped into a fighting stance.

"Aegis, you're helping them? I would have never expected that. Reave always said you were a loner." Trias said.

Spyro, Cynder, and Azshea looked at each other with curious faces. Just who was this lightning dragon? He had mentioned Reave several times now, but each time in a disdainful way. This dragon though appeared to know him as well, and he was obviously one of the seven. The dragons would have to get some answers assuming that they could get him to stick around long enough to ask.

"Shut up, you don't know anything about me!" Aegis growled angrily.

"I know quite a bit about you Aegis, your brother has told me a lot about you." Trias sneered.

"He is not my brother!" The dragon yelled stepping forward threateningly.

"Your brother? What are you talking about?" Spyro asked looking to Aegis for answers.

"You didn't tell them?" Trias asked looking from Aegis to Spyro a smile growing on his face. "Reave is Aegis' brother, I'm surprised he never mentioned it."

Aegis stalked towards Trias, he had become fed up with the dragon a long time ago. Trias noted his movement and released a bolt of lightning from his mouth. The stream of electricity slammed into Aegis but he didn't flinch. The golden dragon had in fact absorbed the energy, leaving himself unharmed.

"You're stronger than I thought, Aegis. No matter I know when I am outmatched. I am going to go and get the others. Stick around Aegis I'm sure Reave will be delighted to see you." Trias taunted, before flying off through the air, away from the other dragons.

"Reave is your brother?" Spyro asked astounded. He looked to Aegis for a long time and got no response.

"Aegis, why didn't you tell us?" Azshea asked asking the question on all of their minds.

"I want all of you to go, now." Aegis said simply.

"What? What about you, aren't you coming with us?" Cynder asked.

"No."

"But, why you can't possible think that you can defeat all of these dragons." Cynder retorted.

"This is my fight, not yours. I want you all to leave now."

"No." Azshea said stepping up to the yellow dragon and forcing him to look at her.

"This is my decision now leave!" Aegis said more forcefully this time.

"I am not leaving unless you are following right behind us. You saved my life, now I am returning the favor, even if you don't see it right now." Azshea said her own voice growing louder.

The yellow dragon eyed her for a few moments without speaking.

"Look Aegis you can come with us. We are trying to defeat these dragons too, you can help us out." Spyro said hoping to win the dragon over. Aegis turned his head to look at Spyro. He knew something was going on here that was bigger than just him and a sibling rivalry. After a few long and tense moments Aegis spoke again.

"Alright I'll go with you but, I am only going doing this to get at Reave." Aegis said looking at each dragon in turn to get his point across.

"Fine, fine, but let's just go, who knows when those dragons will come back." Sparx said looking at the skyline where Trias had flown to.

The dragons all nodded and took flight. Cynder had the hardest time with the holes in her wings but she still managed to rise into the air and follow behind Spyro who had taken the lead.

"We should head back to Warfang; it's the safest place near here." The purple dragon explained. There was no response from the others but Spyro had never expected one and he flew on as fast as his wings would carry him.

**So hopefully I'll update sooner next time. Anyway I hope you enjoyed it, please R&R.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Not much to say here except I want to say thanks for all the views and reviews.**

The four dragons flew through the sky over Warfang. It was already long past midnight. The dragons were all tired from the exhausting events that had preceded the flight back to the dragon city, and everyone was relieved when Spyro, who was leading them, dropped down towards the guardian's house. The purple dragon landed heavily on the balcony with a thud. Three other dragons landed behind him with equal speed. Together they stepped inside the house.

The dragons slowly walked across the room. While they walked Sparx sped across the room and face planted into a pillow. The dragonfly began to snore almost before he landed. All of the dragons had wounds that were in need of nursing, but none of them cared. If they had survived this long they all figured they could wait until morning. Spyro fell face first on a large pillow not even caring to make himself comfortable. He felt Cynder lay down next to him. As soon as he heard her steady breathing he let go of his worries and fell asleep.

Azshea and Aegis stared at the two sleeping dragons for a moment before looking at each other awkwardly. Azshea quickly turned and went off to her own pillow leaving Aegis to stand alone in the room. The golden scaled dragon looked around the room. Even though his fatigue was overcoming him he insisted on inspecting the new location to make sure no harm could come to him or the others. As Aegis' eyes slowly shifted around the room he noted a large earth dragon standing on the stairs that he assumed went to the first floor. The green dragon was staring at him, and it appeared as though he was trying to identify the golden dragon. Aegis dropped to a fighting stance, but his body was sluggish and he heard the green dragon chuckle.

Terrodar just shook his head and walked back down the stairs. He had seen Aegis come in with the other dragons and figured he was no harm. The earth dragon knew he could deal with the new visitor in the morning.

Aegis watched the adult go. After Terrodar had left his eyesight the dragon tried to stand up straight again, to his surprise that his muscles would not even respond. The golden dragon suddenly collapsed onto the floor, his fatigue forcing him into a deep sleep.

Over on the other end of the room Azshea chuckled slightly as she watched the scene play out. The dragoness had wanted to make sure that Aegis actually slept, instead of running off by himself. She didn't know why but she could see the dragon leaving to find Reave on his own. Out of kindness the dragoness rose up slowly and walked over to the unconscious dragon. Her bones and muscles ached as she picked up the dragon and slowly moved him over to a nearby pillow. As she set the dragon down she turned to go back to her own spot. For some unknown reason the dragoness felt herself sway. Azshea's legs buckled and she fell down onto the pillow next to Aegis. Once she landed she immediately fell asleep unable to keep her eyes open any longer.

The morning sun shone brightly through the window on the second floor of the house where the four dragons slept peacefully. The light slowly crawled across the stone floor as time passed. The bright rays eventually reached Spyro and Cynder. The black dragoness felt the warming sunlight on her skin. Her eyes opened lazily and as they adjusted to the ever brightening room she saw Spyro lying in front of her. She sighed with satisfaction at being so close to the dragon. The dragoness after a few moments of waking up slowly brought her forearms under her and lifted herself up to a sitting position on the pillow. The dragoness stretched her neck and turned her head getting rid of the kinks. As she ended the movement she could see across the room.

The dragoness gave a little gasp when she saw Aegis and Azshea lying on a nearby pillow. Her gasp woke up Spyro who gave a small snort, at being disturbed. He quickly rose up to a sitting position. "What-

Cynder put a paw up to his mouth to silence him. The purple dragon looked at her curiously. Cynder moved her paw and pointed to the two sleeping dragons. Spyro's eyes followed her claw and when he registered what was going on he turned back to Cynder quickly with wide eyes.

"What did we miss last night?" He whispered so he wouldn't wake the slumbering dragons.

"I don't know. I fell asleep right as you did." Cynder said still staring at the two.

"I can't see Aegis…" Spyro trailed off not knowing how to finish.

"Yeah, I don't know." Cynder said blankly.

"Hey what are you two babbling about over there? Some of us are trying to sleep you know." Sparx said groggily. The dragonfly had just woken up and was looking at the two with tired eyes.

Spyro and Cynder turned to look at the dragonfly. Upon hearing his loud voice both of the dragons shook their heads and tried to quiet him. Sparx looked at them suspiciously before scanning the room. He then noticed the two, still sleeping dragons.

The dragonfly's jaw dropped. "Whoa! When did this happen? I must have missed out on something because this isn't right!" While the dragonfly spewed out more comments about the odd situation, Azshea and Aegis woke up.

"Follow my lead." Sparx said mischievously and Spyro and Cynder nodded giving him a small smile.

The red dragoness stretched slowly and looked over to the dragons with sleepy eyes. When she saw their questioning stares she looked at them quizzically. The two dragons said nothing as they watched Aegis slowly get up and yawn loudly. Azshea turned her head to look at Aegis. Realizing where she was at the dragoness snapped her head back and forth between the golden scaled dragon and Spyro and Cynder her face growing hot.

"What the…" Aegis trailed off as he noted where he was and who was next to him. Azshea twitched slightly when she heard his voice and quickly jumped off the pillow and backed away from the dragons. Spyro, Cynder, and Aegis fixed her with questioning stares.

"Uh…" Aegis said fumbling for his words but never found any. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on the floor. When he had woken up though he was on a pillow, and Azshea was next to him. The dragon was confused but decided to remain silent for the moment.

"So Azshea, anything happen last night?" Sparx asked making Spyro and Cynder grin all the wider.

"N-no I-I was just…I didn't…" The dragoness fumbled for words trying to explain what had happened. In the back of her mind she knew that even if she did explain it they probably wouldn't believe her story. The dragoness looked to Aegis for some sort of help but the golden dragon was looking to her for answers.

"Aegis how about you do you want to explain to us what happened?" Spyro asked figuring that Azshea would take a while with her words.

"I fell asleep on the ground. I don't know what happened after that." The dragon said eyeing the ground while he talked.

"Which leads us back to you Azshea." Cynder said smiling at the nervous dragoness.

"I saw him pass out." Azshea said pointing to Aegis. "and I moved him onto a pillow." The dragoness explained quickly.

"Then you conveniently fell asleep right next to him." Sparx pointed out making the dragoness' cheeks turn a deeper shade of red. Luckily her crimson scales covered the color making it hard to notice.

"Look I don't know what to say. I didn't mean to do this, it just happened." The dragoness said hanging her head in futility.

"So you're admitting that you did it on purpose?" Spyro asked.

"I-I…" The dragoness looked over to Aegis but he made no move to help her. "Yes, I guess." She finally said.

Spyro and Cynder laughed. "It's okay Azshea we believe your story."

"What? Really?" The dragoness asked looking to the dragons hopefully.

"Yeah, we were just messing with you." Cynder laughed. "Why would you do that after just meeting Aegis anyway?" Cynder said chuckling at her own question.

"Yeah." The dragoness said trailing off and drifting into her own thoughts. The dragoness didn't know what to think anymore. All of the insinuating, made her think about what had just happened. Aegis would have been fine but the dragoness had decided to move him anyway. Azshea pushed the thoughts from her mind as she looked up at Aegis. The golden scaled dragon gave an understanding nod and even a small smile. The gesture only confused the dragoness even more but she didn't have time to think about it as she saw her mother enter the room.

Everyone immediately quieted and looked to the adult fire dragoness. Ashe fumed angrily as she stared at Azshea. She exhaled large streams of fire from her nostrils. Sparx flew over to hover above Spyro as the hot fire threatened to incinerate him.

"Hey watch the fire lady!" Sparx said angrily.

Ashe's head whirled around to stare at the small dragonfly who was now regretting his words. The dragoness glared before opening her mouth to let loose a wave of fire. Spyro and Cynder were caught off guard and hadn't expected an attack. Luckily, Azshea was close enough to the group to react. Azshea slid in front of the dragons and spat fire. The two bursts fizzled out between the two dragons.

"What are you doing mom?" Azshea growled.

"Mom?" Aegis asked momentarily put off guard by the term. In that moment Ashe whipped around her tail slamming Aegis and sending him tumbling across the floor.

"You all took her from me. What you were thinking I'll never know, but my daughter stays with me. She is far above your kind!" The dragoness scathed.

"Ashe what are you talking about?" Azshea asked as she rushed to help a stunned Aegis to his feet.

"You do not belong here Azshea, you must come with me!" The dragoness said.

"No, I came here of my own free will, and I intend to stay until the job is done!" The crimson dragoness retorted.

"Then I have no choice, you will come with me one way or another." The adult dragoness said calmly. Ashe advanced slowly across the room towards Azshea. The smaller dragoness didn't back down this time. She had grown tired of her mother long ago. Azshea leapt over a swipe and dived into the dragoness' chest. The blow took Ashe by surprise and she fell backwards. She was hardly stunned though and almost before she landed she breathed a wave of red hot fire from her mouth.

The tremendous blow sent a wave of burning pain all across Azshea's chest and sent her up into the air before falling back down into the floor. Spyro and Cynder cringed when they saw the blow.

"What do you think we should do?" Cynder asked as she watched Azshea recover from the attack and vault back into the fight.

"I don't know, but I think we shouldn't interfere." Spyro answered as he too watched the fight.

"What? Why?" Cynder asked tearing her own eyes from the two wrestling dragons.

Spyro shook his head. "It isn't our place. Ashe is Azshea's mother so I think its best that we don't act in this situation. Besides I don't think Azshea will come to harm."

"What about that scar? Her mother did that." Cynder reasoned.

Spyro blinked as he considered his current course of action. The dragoness made a valid point but for some reason he knew that they should do anything. Azshea would handle this her way. "If it comes down to it, then we'll help." The dragon finally said and Cynder nodded before turning back to the fight.

The small crimson dragoness rolled from away as Ashe's deadly tail blade pierced the floor where she had been moments ago. The action almost made Spyro reconsider his opinion but he held still and trusted that Azshea would work her way through this.

"What is the meaning of this!" Terrodar yelled as he and the other elder dragons entered the top floor. They watched with anger as Ashe continued to fight with Azshea. Neither of the dragons stopped to regard the three outraged elders. Terrodar was about to shout again when he heard lightning crack.

All heads, excluding Azshea and Ashe who were caught up fighting, turned to Aegis just as the dragon unleashed the sizzling electricity. The bright yellow bolt snapped forward and shocked Ashe. The large red dragoness' joints went stiff and she convulsed for a moment before falling to the ground where she lay still occasionally twitching from the voltage that was coursing through her body.

Everyone turned to Aegis in shock. While Spyro and Cynder had decided to avoid interfering Aegis obviously had other plans. After being struck by the dragoness his anger had begun to well up. When he saw how violent the adult was towards her own daughter he snapped and decided to act.

Azshea turned at the dragon with an angry glare. She held almost no love for her mother but she also didn't want to see her hurt. Azshea figured that she could have handled the dragoness herself. Aegis had no right to step in. Azshea gave a snort expelling some flames before launching herself off of the balcony and towards the city.

Aegis looked at her shrinking image in dismay not sure what he had done. He turned to the others with a confused look. "What did I do?" He asked.

Spyro and Cynder shrugged. If they were in Azshea's place they would have welcomed Aegis' help. Neither of them had the answer to his question and they just stared at him blankly unsure of what to say.

"Would either of you like to explain what just happened, and maybe tell us who this stranger is?" Terrodar asked looking directly at Spyro and Cynder.

"It's a long story…" Spyro said losing his words as he wondered where to start.

"Wait one second." Cynder interrupted. "Someone needs to go get Azshea; I don't think she should be left alone right now."

Spyro nodded. "I'll go get her then." He said before moving towards the window. Cynder stopped him with a gentle paw.

"Actually, I was thinking that I should go." Cynder said.

Spyro looked at her curiously. "Why would you go?"

"I don't know." The dragoness paused for a moment. "Girl time." She said coming up with the first excuse she could think of.

"How does that apply?" The purple dragon asked.

"Why does it matter?" Cynder asked.

"Why are you so intent on going?" Spyro retorted.

"Spyro, Cynder!" Cyril said rather loudly getting both the dragons attention. Both dragons turned to stare at him.

"Your friend already left. He said that he would take care of it." Cyril continued.

Spyro and Cynder gawked at them. Both looked out the window to see Aegis already flying off towards where they had seen Azshea go.

"Why would he go?" Spyro asked.

"He said he wanted some answers." Terrodar answered his rhetorical question.

"That's why I wanted to go." Cynder said.

"Same here. I wanted some answers about her." Spyro said nodding his head towards the fire dragoness who lay temporarily paralyzed on the floor. The adult growled angrily but could do nothing more.

"Hah! Not so tough now!" Sparx said floating right in front of her. Ashe let a few flames fly from her nose. Sparx gave a yelp and flew back behind Spyro's head for safety. Despite the paralysis Ashe gave a slight grin at the dragonfly's reaction.

"That is all beside the point. Aegis is gone now, so let him go about his business." Volteer said.

"How did you know his name?" Cynder asked curiously.

"He told us before he left. He also thanked us for letting him sleep here. He seemed quite polite." Terrodar paused. "Unlike a few others I know."

"Hey we're polite." Spyro retorted.

"I'm kidding." Terrodar laughed. It's good to have you all back. Now while we wait for Aegis, why don't you tell us what happened." The dragon continued.

Aegis cut through the air. The lightning dragon shot through the morning sky his eyes peeled looking for Azshea. The dragon didn't have to look long, since almost no other dragons were flying. As he flew over another cluster of buildings he spotted the dragoness who was flying lazily through the early morning skyline. Aegis beat his wings trying to speed up.

The sky was quiet as Azshea floated through the air. Her thoughts were a tangled mess. The red dragoness couldn't piece it together. Her mother was acting insane. She hadn't even given a reason for Azshea to stay with her. Instead Ashe only demanded it and expected her to follow like a blind whelp. Aside those thoughts were ones of Aegis. The dragoness didn't know what to think. Could she trust him after what he had done? He was only trying to help but still. She didn't know, and her conflicted thoughts distracted her and she didn't hear the yellow dragon coming up behind her.

"Azshea, wait up!" The dragon said catching her attention.

Azshea snapped from her inner thoughts and looked back to the dragon in surprise. She hadn't expected anyone to follow her. Without giving it any thought the dragoness beat her wings and sped on ahead. She wanted to be left alone right now.

As Aegis watched her go, he growled in irritation and beat his own wings. The two dragons flew on over the city, Azshea, upon realizing that Aegis was still on her tail proceeded to loop through the air hoping to just tire out the dragon. As she went into a loop she looked below to see the yellow dragon gaining on her. The aerial dance continued for a few long minutes with the dragons shooting up and down and spinning through the air until Aegis finally got level with Azshea.

"What are you doing? I just want to talk!" The dragon yelled over the wind.

"Obviously, I don't so go away!" The red dragoness stated plainly. The dragoness turned violently to the left and dove towards the ground. Aegis watched her drop and growled as he dived after her. The two dragons fell through the sky, nearing the ground at overwhelming speeds. Azshea realizing that the dragon was not going to stop until they both hit the ground decided it was best to pull up.

Almost effortlessly the dragoness came out of the dive. She pulled up close to the ground and leveled off quickly before landing on a nearby roof. There was a sudden explosion and the dragoness snapped her head back. Where she and Aegis had been diving seconds before there was now a cloud of dust. The dragoness looked desperately at the dust knowing she had gone too far. "Oh by the ancestors Aegis, please don't be dead." She said worriedly.

Cynder sat patiently as Spyro told the elder dragons what had happened. Occasionally, she threw in her own input to make the story more complete. For the most part though the dragoness was thinking about Azshea and Aegis, the two dragons had left a long time ago. She was wondering what they were doing.

After Spyro finished he watched as the elders thought about what had been said. "So any thoughts on the subject?" The purple dragon asked. His question brought Cynder back to the conversation, as she realized that the story had ended.

"It seems that you four are looking for a weakness." Terrodar said.

"That would help." Cynder said tracing a design in the stone.

"Well, unfortunately I have no idea what to tell you." The earth dragon said, and both dragons head's sagged.

"But." Spyro and Cynder perked up at the word. "I do know of one who might be able to help you."

"Who?" Spyro asked hopefully.

Terrodar was about to respond but Cyril cut him off. "Go and find your friends first you should all hear this."

Spyro and Cynder looked at him curiously. As his stare hardened they decided to not ask any more questions.

"We'll be right back." Cynder said as she dived off the roof.

"Are you thinking of the dragon I believe you are?" Volteer asked.

"You'll see." Terrodar responded.

"He's dangerous; you can't send them to him." Cyril said.

"What else can we do?" Terrodar almost yelled.

The other two shrunk back slightly as they looked at the earth dragon. After several tense moments Volteer and Cyril nodded having nothing else to say.

One the floor Ashe's thoughts swirled as she pieced the story together in her mind. "An interesting development" The dragoness thought.

As Azshea surveyed the area a sudden force knocked her to the ground. The weight that toppled her over quickly jumped off, giving her the chance to get up. At first she figured it was one of the seven back to finish the job. The dragoness almost attacked but she first realized who it was.

"Aegis!" She said in surprise.

The golden dragon looked at her with curious eyes. "Who were you expecting?"

"You-you crashed into the ground over there." She stuttered as she looked at the supposed impact sight.

"It was a distraction; I shot lightning at the ground. I guess it worked." The dragon explained nonchalantly. "I'm kind of surprised you fell for it." He almost laughed.

Azshea let out a deep breath and walked up to the dragon and gave him a hard slap.

"What was that for?" The yellow dragon yelled when he recovered from the harsh blow.

"Don't do anything like that ever again." The red dragoness said quietly but with more force than Aegis had ever heard in her voice.

"Sounds a bit personal, don't you think?" Aegis asked giving a playful smirk.

"Shut up." The dragoness said half-heartedly losing her stern tone. "Look since you are so intent on catching me, what do you want?"

"I want to talk about what happened back there." Aegis said simply.

"You, of all people want to talk to me? Why not Spyro or Cynder?" The dragoness asked curiously.

"Thanks, that wasn't a hurtful thing to say or anything." Aegis said rolling his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that." The red dragoness said quickly hoping to mend the damage. "It's just that I wasn't really expecting you."

"Yeah, it's okay. Look what happened up there. I didn't mind being hit but, is she really your mother?"

"Yes, she is, and I want to apologize for her behavior." The dragoness gave a little bow.

"It's okay really." Aegis said.

Azshea gave a thankful sigh before continuing. "My mother isn't the most conventionally dragoness in the world."

"I'll say, but why did she attack you?" Aegis asked still confused.

"I don't really know. I think that Ashe cares, but she doesn't know how to show it." Azshea said trying to explain as she twiddled with her bronze leaf pendant. The leaf caught the morning sun and it temporarily blinded Aegis.

"Who gave you that?" Aegis asked eyeing the pendant.

"My father, just before he passed away." Azshea said her voice cracking slightly.

"I-I'm sorry." Aegis said feeling awkward. A few minutes passed and the only noise that the two heard was the slightly morning breeze.

"I don't know what to do about my mother." Azshea said after a few moments trying to get them back on track.

"Right." Aegis said trying to think of something that he could relate to his own life. "Look Azshea." The dragoness perked up and stared at the lightning dragon's forest green eyes. "I think that maybe your mother is trying her best. I know someone in my family that was the same way."

"Who?" The dragoness dared to ask after the dragon trailed off.

Aegis sighed. He never really card to talk about his past. The painful memories of what had happened had never sat well with Aegis. This time though he felt that he should tell Azshea, if it would help her then Aegis figured it was worth it.

"Uh, Aegis?" The crimson dragoness asked again meeting his eyes to get her attention.

"Reave." Aegis said bringing a small gasp from Azshea. "It all happened a few years ago back when I was little…"

Aegis sat in the underbrush of the forest. The greenery was covering his bright yellow features. The small dragon poked his head over the bushes to look into a small clearing, in the open area a lone deer grazed, unaware of the small dragon's presence. Aegis licked his lips hungrily as he eyed the deer. He had placed himself close enough to attack the deer and hopefully kill it.

Aegis sucked in a deep breath and then leapt from the bushes. The deer's head immediately shot into the air. It was too late though as Aegis latched onto the mammal with his teeth and claws. His sharp fangs sinking into the deer's neck and his claws piercing the deer's hide. As Aegis held on the deer bucked and spun trying to shake off the young dragon. Aegis was easily shaken free. The dragon tumbled to the ground and watched with sadness as his prey ran away towards the surrounding forest. Looking at the fleeing deer he realized how big it actually was compared to his child like body. The deer was at least three time his size.

A sudden spike of ice shot out of some nearby trees and struck the deer in the neck, killing it instantly. Aegis' eyes lit up and his energy returned to him, as he saw his brother Reave step out of the woods. The dragon was sky blue with white specks on his scales. His horns bent back at a ninety degree angle. They were a dim grey color that matched storm clouds.

"You always did go for prey that was too big for you." He chuckled as he looked at Aegis with his soft grey eyes.

"I just want to catch something that's as big as the things you catch." Aegis said as he charged forward and jumped on his brother's broad chest. The small golden dragon slid down slowly and bounced on the ground before giving his brother a wide childish smile.

"Yeah, well don't get ahead of yourself, I wouldn't want you to become the prey. You're all I have left."

Aegis' smile suddenly faded. "I miss mom and dad." He said sadly looking down at his paws.

"Hey, hey, look at me." Reave said pushing up Aegis' face with a gentle black claw. "You still have me, alright. That's all that you are going to need."

Aegis looked away from his brother after a moment. "One day I'll kill Malefor for what he did!" The little dragon said angrily.

Reave stared blankly at his little brother not sure of what to make of the statement. He thought about the statement, and considered scolding him for saying such a thing. He held his tongue though as he considered what Malefor had done to both of them. Suddenly, the dragon began to turn the thought over in his head.

"Kill Malefor." He whispered.

"Reave?" Aegis asked looking up at his brother. While Reave had been considering the idea Aegis had gone and chased a small butterfly, which had quickly fluttered out of his reach. Now the small dragon was back and his mind had reverted to its original thought, food. Aegis eyed the deer hungrily. Reave noticed and quickly dragged the deer back to a nearby cave. The two dragons sat down and ate the meat. They had no means to cook it but they hardly cared for they were both hungry.

After they had finished Reave continued to ponder his thoughts about Malefor. The ice dragon felt the same as Aegis did. How hard could it be to kill Malefor. The young overconfident dragon thought about his parents, the dragons that had nurtured him and his brother. They had died defending them both, victims of Malefor's agents.

As the dragon continued to think about it he realized he had nothing lose. The two dragons were alone in the world. They both lived in the wild. Suddenly the spastic thought from his little brother was turning into a plan. A plan that Reave suddenly wanted to execute.

"Kill Malefor." The ice dragon said to himself.

"Um, Aegis I don't mean to interrupt but how does this apply?" Azshea asked. She was genuinely interested in the story. Ever since she met him Aegis had been wrapped in mystery. His entire existence had seemed so complex but now he was explaining it.

"Trust me Azshea, this story applies, but it looks like we'll have to finish it later." Aegis said and nodded to the sky behind the red dragoness. Azshea didn't have to look to know who it was. Spyro and Cynder fluttered down and landed next to them both.

"Did we interrupt something?" Sparx asked looking at the two with a grin.

"No, just a story about Aegis' past." Azshea explained.

"Oh, come on I want to know that!" Spyro said and his head sunk.

"Later. What did you come out for?" Aegis asked.

"We have to get back to the guardians; they have something to tell us." Cynder said as she gave Spyro a pat on the back. Cynder and Spyro took flight as he finished his sentence, with the two dragons close behind.

"I'll finish telling you the story later." Aegis said to the dragoness who bobbed her head in response. "And Azshea." He added getting her attention. "If you need someone to talk to you know you can talk to me." Aegis said. When Azshea raised a brow in surprise he quickly added. "I'm sure Spyro and Cynder would be happy to listen as well."

**Wow I just realized how many names I have that start with A, oh well too late now. As always reviews are appreciated.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Wow I swear my updates keep getting longer. Maybe it was just because I had tons of writer's block on this chapter. Oh well its written now so Enjoy!**

The four dragons touched down on the balcony of the ex-guardian's house. They stepped inside to see the awaiting adult dragons. Each of them noted that Ashe was now lying down in a corner with a disgusted look on her face. The young dragons had no doubt that Terrodar had given her a heated scolding while they had been gone. Sparx chuckled slightly when he looked upon the dragoness, thinking it funny that she was being treated as a child would be.

"Alright, Terrodar what is it that you want to tell us?" Spyro asked bringing the dragonfly's attention back to the current situation.

"Terrodar don't." Cyril said sternly cutting his friend off.

"He could help them." The green dragon retorted.

"Or he could kill all of them." Volteer replied sending a chill down all of the young dragon's spines.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't want to die." Sparx said nervously.

"Then you can stay behind." Spyro said looking up at his brother.

"But that's boring." Sparx complained.

"Then come with us." Cynder countered.

The dragonfly looked torn, and wasn't sure what to say.

"Why don't you tell us what we are going up against, and then we can decide if we want to go or not." Azshea said, ending Sparx's petty decision-making and getting back to the more important topic.

"Alright then, you must-

"Terrodar no!" Volteer yelled startling all of dragons. None of them had ever heard the usually timid dragon raise his voice before.

"No, you listen!" Terrodar growled turning on the electric dragon. "These dragons are old enough to make their own decisions. We will tell them what we know and they can decide how to act on it."

"But-

"No!" Terrodar said cutting off the electric dragon before he could say anything. "We have to try something, otherwise nothing will get accomplished." Terrodar explained, before turning away from the two ending the discussion.

"If we try this we may not have a purple dragon to fight them." Cyril said quietly. Terrodar choose to ignore the blue dragon's comment but Spyro couldn't ignore something that involved his very life.

The purple dragon shivered slightly at the thought of something so terrible. Although he had faced death multiple times the plain prospect of it scared him. What could these dragons possibly know about that was so bad. Cynder noticed his shiver and placed a comforting paw on his. "Don't worry about it Spyro we won't let anything happen to you."

Spyro gave her a smile of gratitude but hardly felt any better. He turned his attention back to Terrodar silently asking him to continue.

"Alright." Terrodar said, and let out a sigh as he half questioned his own actions. Pushing the doubt and fear out of his mind he continued. "We know of one dragon who may be able to help you."

"Who?" Aegis asked compelling the older dragon to go on. If Terrodar could give him a way to kill Reave then he would force the answer out of the elder if he had to. As a result of his thoughts Aegis' eyes narrowed bring a small amount of fear to the large green dragon.

Terrodar looked at Aegis with partial curiosity at the dragon's sudden determination. "His name is Dante. He is a black dragon that served under Malefor during the war." Terrodar explained. "During a part in the war the dragon for some reason broke away from Malefor, if the rumors were correct he almost killed Malefor when he left."

"So how will he help us? Can he fight?" Spyro asked.

"No, I doubt he wants anything to do with your situation." Terrodar said answering their question.

"Then why are we going to him?" Cynder asked confused by the dragon's logic.

"This dragon, Dante, trained the seven who you are now fighting."

"How do you know?" Cynder asked.

"Because Cynder that was his job, in fact he probably trained you too." The green dragon said.

"M-me?" Cynder asked her voice almost a squeak.

Terrodar nodded and Cynder suddenly started to think over what she could remember of her broken past. She had no idea what to do with the information, so for the moment she just set it aside. She figured that if she got the chance she would ask Dante himself.

"I believe that since he trained the dragons he may know of some sort of weakness that they have, and maybe he can help you." Terrodar concluded.

"Then why are they both scared of him?" Spyro asked nodding to the other ex-guardians.

Terrodar shrugged and turned to his friends. "Would you care to explain?" He asked them and when both nodded, he stepped aside giving them a chance to speak.

"This dragon that you are going to see is who Terrodar claims he is." Cyril said.

"But, after he broke away from the dark master, more than a few dragons went to him to try and ascertain his help, or knowledge." Volteer said picking up Cyril's sentence without skipping a beat.

"And none of them returned." Sparx said finishing the electric dragon's sentence for him. Volteer nodded solemnly. "Are you serious? That's what you guys have been scared off?" Sparx asked looking at the dragons in disbelief. "We've done crazier things, now that I think about it just about everything we've done you guys tell us it's a deathtrap." Sparx said recalling his own memories.

"This is different." Cyril said halting the dragonfly's speech.

"How?" Spyro asked genuinely confused by why they were so against this venture.

"We have seen him with our own eyes." Cyril answered causing Spyro to take a small step back.

"When?" Cynder asked.

"When you and Spyro were frozen in time for those three years, we went to see him." That statement alone made Azshea and Aegis look to each other in confusion and even Ashe raised her head into the air. Very few dragons actually knew what had happened to Spyro and Cynder during the three years they had disappeared. There had been many rumors but no solid conclusions.

"Wait one second." Azshea said poking her head up between Spyro and Cynder. They looked at her curiously and moved apart allowing her some room to stand and talk. "You were frozen in time for three years."

Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx nodded.

"How did you do that?" Azshea asked.

"I could control time." Spyro said. "But I think I might have overdone it because since then I haven't really been able to do it."

Azshea was about to ask another question when Cynder cut her off. "Azshea how about we tell you after Cyril and Volteer finish explaining their story." The red dragoness looked to her and after a short pause nodded and stepped back again.

"Anyway," Volteer said picking up the story again. "We were looking for a powerful ally. I all honesty we thought that you and Spyro were dead." He explained looking at Cynder. The two dragons looked at each other with disappointed faces, they had thoughts that the guardians had more faith in them than that.

"Volteer and I went to see Dante with a dozen other dragons." Cyril paused as a shiver coursed through his body. "The black dragon killed them all. His power was immeasurable."

"The dozen of dragons that came with us died within seconds of our encounter and Cyril and I were lucky to make it out of there alive." Volteer finished.

"That is why we don't want you to go." Cyril said. "This time the odds are against you and you have no way to change them."

There was a long silence in the room as all of the dragons considered the ice dragon's words.

"I'm going." Spyro said.

"What?" Cyril asked astounded.

"I follow you." Cynder said giving Spyro a quick nuzzle. Spyro smiled at the dragoness happy to know that she trusted him.

"I'm going too." Azshea said, and when the red dragoness noticed her mother staring at her she looked over at her. Azshea stared at her mother hard, the mother and daughter almost communicated through their silent stares. Ashe knowing that it was a futile effort broke the contact and stood up. She had more important business to attend to in Warfang anyway. As the dragoness dove out of the room from a nearby balcony she couldn't help but let a smile cross her face. As the adult left Azshea turned and smiled to her friends.

"How about you Aegis?" Cynder asked looking back to the silent golden dragon.

Aegis looked at each dragon in turn making each of them more and more nervous about his answer. The golden dragon had only been with them for a short time but he had made it clear that he didn't enjoy working with others, if he could avoid it. "If what they say is true, we're all going to die." He said simply.

"So optimistic." Sparx chuckled. The group laughed at the dragonfly's comment. The seriousness of their mission soon took over though and when they settled down Spyro turned back to the adults who stared at them in awe.

"It's decided then, so where can we find him?" The purple dragon asked ignoring their looks.

"He is not far from here." Terrodar said.

"I hope you aren't making a huge mistake Terrodar." Cyril said as he walked past him.

In the back of his mind Terrodar held the same doubts and he hoped that he had made the right decision.

Solris, Astir, Reave, and Trias walked along the beaten dusty ground. They were in a desolate area where there was almost no grass and certainly no trees. The barren land made Solris feel uneasy and she wasn't very good at hiding that fact. Many times she tripped over rocks or stumbled as she looked around afraid that something would leap out the ground and attack them. The dragoness had a right to be scared as the area was known to have rogue grublins infesting it. They had no allegiance now that Malefor had died, so they roamed in the wild and killed whatever they saw.

As the dragoness continued to scan the surrounding wilderness she tripped over another rock and fell, bumping into Reave's side. The large dragon didn't even budge when she hit him. He just looked down at her and gave a laugh. Solris quickly picked herself up and continued to stride forward never letting her eyes meet with the black dragon's. Ever since Reave had attacked her in the forest she had felt even more uncomfortable around him.

The dragoness tried to think about something else, but a sudden hoot from behind them made her jump. She had nearly forgotten that behind them was a rather large army of apes. She found it odd that they still followed Astir. Their mental capacity must have been miniscule. Here they were accepting help from dragons with the promise to kill other dragons. The whole idea boggled Solris, for she thought that if they truly hated dragons they would not side with any of them no matter what promise was made.

There was another hoot, followed an earth ripping sound and a scream of agony which cut off the dragoness' thought process and she spun around to note the situation. She gasped when she saw a massive green grublin, the monster had burst from the sand and had already begun to pummel and throw the apes that were closest to it. The apes scrambled to get away from the furious monster, most of them running over their brethren in the process.

Solris began to charge back towards the monster with the other three dragons. The apes had no chance against this beast. Most of them didn't even carry a weapon, Solris knew. They had found many apes, would join them for revenge against the dragons but most all of them had almost nothing in their procession. Spyro had decimated the race before Malefor had been reborn even going so far as to kill Gaul, their king. As a result whatever small economy that was in ape culture had been destroyed, leaving the apes without anything, including weapons and armor.

After running a few yards Solris jumped into the air and flapped her leathery blue wings sending herself rocketing forward past the other dragons. The grublin took no notice of the dragoness as it continued to batter the apes around it. Solris angled herself carefully as she closed in, setting up a path to bring her straight to the beast's neck. The black dragoness landed claws first and began to rake the grublin's upper back tearing through the grit and grim that comprised its body.

The grublin gave a gurgling yell before dropping the ape it was carrying and reaching back to grab Solris. The trim dragoness saw the massive hand nearing her and she quickly dropped off of the grublin's back and rolled away. Her initial assault had done exactly as intended and the dragoness sat back to watch her allies play their part. As the grublin was distracted Reave slammed into its chest and knocked it to the ground. As he hit the beast he managed to take a rather large chunk out of its body with his teeth, before diving away. Even as the black dragon moved out of the way, Trias skidded to a stop and spit electricity from his mouth. The yellow energy weaved forward in jagged lines before slamming into the grublin paralyzing it for the moment. As the creature lay on the ground Astir casually walked up to the giant's face. He scowled at the helpless creature before spitting up a glob of poison melting the creature's head and killing it slowly.

After he had assured that the grublin was dead the dragon turned to the others and raised his voice. "Alright back in line, now!"

The apes scrambled even more to get back to their respective positions. Astir walked away from them and back to the other dragons so that he could continue to lead the ape army. As he and the other dragons slowly assembled, Solris of course being the slowest to get back, as she stared at the grublin with pity, before moving on.

Trias came up next to Astir. Since the yellow dragon had let Spyro and his friends escape he had not spoken to Astir unless it was absolutely necessary. When he had told the black dragon what happened Astir had beaten him mercilessly. Trias cringed as he still felt many of the wounds give a burst of pain. The dragon quickly pushed the pain from his thoughts and looked to Astir.

"Hey Astir where are we going?" He asked hesitantly not sure if the dragon would act out or not.

The black dragon glared at him angrily. As the dragon stared at Trias with narrowed eyes Trias backed away slightly and was about to apologize for speaking when the black dragon responded.

"We are headed to a cache of treasures that Malefor kept. If we are to have an army we need to equip them."

"You mean that Malefor has a whole cache of weapons and armor just lying around?" Trias asked amazed by the prospect.

"Yes, I doubt anyone will stop us. If Malefor was telling the truth when he spoke of this place it holds items that have greater power than you could imagine."

"If this place is so great why didn't Malefor use it, when Spyro and Cynder killed him?" Trias dared to ask.

"Malefor didn't know when to take the help that was available to him. I on the other hand I have learned from that mistake and so I welcome the support." Astir explained. Trias didn't respond as he began to imagine what would actually be among this horde of treasure.

The large group made their way across the dead area quickly. After a few hours of walking Solris spoke up. "Astir where is this place?"

"We are here." Astir said stopping in place. The dragoness was somewhat surprised not expecting that answer.

Solris looked around, after seeing nothing the dragoness looked to Astir again. "There's nothing here." She said plainly.

Astir shook his head. "It's over there." The dragon said pointing a claw at a nearby cliff. Solris followed his claw with her eyes. After a moment she noted a small cave that sat nearly halfway up a rocky cliff.

"Oh." Solris said.

"Idiot." The dark dragon said more to himself than the dragoness.

"What did you call me?" The dragoness asked just barely picking up Astir's comment.

"Idiot, that's what I called you!" Astir said turning on her angrily.

"One more word and I'll make you regret it." Solris growled. She had gotten fed up with their constant comments about her being inferior.

"Yeah, okay we all kn-

Astir slammed onto the ground as Solris tackled him. "I am just as good as any of you!" The dragoness screamed as she slammed a paw across the dragon's face. Leaving three slash marks.

Astir kicked up with his hind legs launched the dragoness off of his body. As Solris fell to the ground she breathed a gust of air to cushion herself. The dragoness landed and she turned her head to look menacingly at Astir.

"What are you going to do Solris?" Astir asked. The black dragoness didn't break her stance but did stop to listen.

"This has happened before. What are you going to do?" Astir asked reiterating his question as he turned to Solris.

"I-I…" Solris stuttered.

"What? What? You are here with us." The dragon slowly stepped towards Solris. "You are inferior to us." Astir said as he continued to walk forward towards the dragoness until he was standing right in front of her. Solris took no notice she was lost in her thoughts. The black dragon's words made perfect sense. This had happened before. It was only now occurring to her that Astir was right.

"You have no choice, but guess what," The dragon paused until Solris turned her head to look up at him. "I'm going to fix that right now." With a quick flick Astir sent his tail he sent Solris to the ground. Her head spun with the blow as she fell on her side. The dragoness looked groggily at Astir. "I would say a lesson could remedy this, but I really doubt that. Perhaps this is the only way." The dragoness sighed with feigned sorrow.

Astir snapped his tail forward the deadly blade aimed to kill. Solris' eyes snapped open as she saw the metal coming at her. The dragoness snapped her paw down to the tail, as a last ditch effort she grabbed the dragon's strong tail in her paw. Unfortunately, it was not enough the dragoness felt the blade enter her flesh and she gasped as the reality set in. Her heart had been pierced, she was dying. Solris felt Astir yank his tail out, the sudden jerk sending another wave of pain across her body and opening the wound further. The dragoness' breathing seemed to get louder and deeper while the rest of the world faded away. Solris felt the cold embrace come over her and her vision left her. "The seven become six." Were the last words that she heard.

Spyro, Azshea, Aegis, and Cynder shot off the balcony. The dragons were flying off towards the point that the elders had specified. They were told that Dante lived in a forested glade, that was unfortunately rather nondescript. The only plus was that they should be able to reach it that day, if they could find it. Each of the dragons felt better. They had rested for two whole days and most of their wounds had closed up and each of them felt rested and ready to confront this new foe.

The dragons glided along at an easy pace in no real rush. They all knew that once they reached the destination they would be thrust right into a fight so they took their time. They flew over the walls of Warfang and towards the forests beyond, where Terrodar had given them a general idea of where to look for Dante.

The four flew on for a long time in silence, none of them really having anything to say. As the night closed in they looked more desperately for the meadow that Terrodar had mentioned. When finding none that they thought adequate enough to house a dragon like Dante they gave up.

"Let's stop for the day and we can pick up in the morning." Spyro said. He got a quick nod from the others and quickly dropped down from the sky and into a small opening in the forest. They all landed in the tiny grove that almost seemed crowded to them. Azshea started a fire giving them some comfort in the night.

Sparx fluttered around the campfire, his stomach feeling empty from the flight. He groaned as he scanned the nearby forest looking for anything that was edible. A small sphere caught his eye in the distance. "Hey I see some fruit with my name on it." The dragonfly said as he fluttered off away from the others and towards the large plum. Spyro and Cynder watched him go but didn't follow. They both knew that in a dark forest Sparx wouldn't venture too far.

Spyro and Cynder sat down together on one side of the fire. Azshea and Aegis sitting further apart. Spyro and Cynder looked at them with half amused smiles. When they noted the dragon's faces both gave curious looks.

"So is there any way to find this Dante then?" Cynder asked.

"I don't know whatever Terrodar told us really isn't helping too much." Spyro responded. "I mean he could be anywhere in this forest."

"Yeah, but then again do you guys really want to find him?" Azshea asked. The other dragons looked at her in surprise they had thought that she was all for finding Dante. The dragoness noted their eyes upon her and clarified. "I mean I want to find him but think of what Cyril and Volteer said. This dragon is dangerous. What if he attacks?"

All the dragons meditated on this revelation. When they had set out they felt as though they couldn't be beat. Now that they were in a dark forest and facing reality they saw it differently.

"You're just letting them get to you." Spyro said trying to comfort her.

Azshea looked at him not really feeling any safer.

"We will find him, and if it comes to fighting we'll win." Aegis said sternly.

"What? How can you be so sure?" Azshea asked curiously.

"Because, no one is going to kill me before I kill Reave." Aegis said looking at her this time with determined eyes.

"That doesn't really help me." Azshea said after a moment of silence.

Aegis sighed. "How about I tell you a bit more about my past then, and get your mind off of it." Aegis said. He wasn't terribly comfortable revealing his past to others, but he figured that eventually he would have to tell all of them.

"Alright, and this time I can hear what happens." Spyro said happily moving a little closer to Cynder as he got ready to listen to the story. Aegis had been a mystery to him since they met and he felt ready to hear his history.

"Yeah, okay so where did I leave off." Aegis said pondering his own question. "Oh right so Reave had…" The yellow dragon trailed off as his eyes rested on the forest.

"What is it?" Cynder asked.

Aegis looked across the fire directly into the trees. Two large red eyes stared back at him. They narrowed malevolently and Aegis leapt to his feet. The eyes were closest to Azshea and Aegis had enough foresight to see what was coming. The dragons stared at him with confused looks as he sprinted towards Azshea. Black fire exploded from the trees behind the crimson dragoness. Aegis tackled the dragoness away from the blast of black fire. They landed several feet away and when they stopped rolling the two dragons were staring at each other. Their faces were only inches apart.

"Thanks for keeping me safe." Azshea said. Aegis blinked before rolling off her and focusing on the enemy that was upon them. Azshea too collected herself and got off the ground. After sorting herself she turned her mind back to the task at hand.

Another wave of black fire swept across the meadow sending it into complete darkness.

Ashe flew across the city. She had been biding her time all day in order to meet with the guardians at the precise time and in private. The slender dragoness slithered through the darkening sky nearing the guardian temple at an incredible taste.

The dragoness didn't bother with the large front door, knowing that guards would be placed there. Instead the dragoness spiraled around the temple looking for a balcony to land on, and let herself in. Within minutes she had found a landing spot and dived towards it.

The dragoness landed without a sound and stepped into the room behind the thin curtains. The fire dragoness entered a large room on the other side that obviously served as a bedroom. From the surroundings alone she realized that it was probably one of the guardian's rooms. The red setting indicated to her that it was Blaze's.

The dragoness' suspicion was confirmed when her eyes fell on a large pillow. Blaze and Krista, the guardians of fire and ice lay there sharing a private moment. Ashe looked at them in disdain and was about to scold them. Luckily, she caught herself first realizing that she had broken into their room. Instead the dragoness turned her eyes away from them and cleared her throat.

The two dragons broke the kiss suddenly and Blaze looked over to Ashe angrily. Krista did nothing more than fall back on the pillow giving a small sigh of regret. Blaze's anger soon turned to confusion though as he realized who was standing in his room, not to mention that she had obviously not come through the door.

"What are you doing here?" He asked slightly off balance because of the position he had been caught in.

"I came to inform you of an important matter." Ashe said ignoring the dragon's obvious discomfort.

"What would that be?" Blaze asked suddenly curious as he made his way to a more proper position.

"I have heard much since I have been gone. I stayed at the old guardian's home and saw Spyro and Cynder several times." The dragoness explained.

"So your point is?" Blaze asked feeling a sudden but short flare of anger at the mention of the dragons. Krista too perked up slightly at their mention, her interest caught.

"They are planning, alongside the ex-guardians." Ashe announced.

"What do you mean planning?" Blaze asked.

A subtle smile came over Ashe's features as she continued to weave her tale.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Well Zerospyro's review scared me into updating so soon; lol jk, but here is the new chapter. Enjoy!**

"I thought, we were done fighting in the dark!" Azshea groaned as the shadows enveloped the small glade, that she and her friends stood in.

The dragoness regretted the words a second later as she felt herself get smashed in the side, by what she assumed was Dante. None of the dragons had actually seen their attacker but only its eyes. From the shadow fire though they assumed it was him.

Azshea rolled along the ground until she bumped into a pair of legs. "Spyro? Cynder? Please tell me that's you." The dragoness asked groggily.

"It's me Azshea." Spyro whispered. The dragon was hoping that Dante couldn't see in the dark and that like them he was operating on sound to fight. Spyro glanced up hoping that soon the moon would come out from under the cloudy night sky. A thought occurred to Spyro a second later. He began to call for Sparx but shut his mouth again a second later. If the dragonfly came to light the area he would be an easy target for Dante. The last thing Spyro wanted to see was his brother dead because he needed some light.

The dragon instead chose to rely on his instincts. He heard Azshea stepping to her feet in front of him. The dragoness was trying to be quiet but it was hard to not make a sound when it was perfectly silent. Cynder stood perfectly still by Spyro's side, the dragoness was quietly waiting and watching with her small amount of nighttime vision. Hopefully, if Dante attacked Cynder would warn them.

A sudden roar told the purple dragon that Aegis had already jumped into the fighting. He heard scuffling noises which told him where the fight was happening and he looked in that direction hoping to see something. Suddenly Cynder darted forward towards the noises. Spyro didn't know what else to do so he charged after her blindly, knowing that Azshea was right behind her.

The purple dragon followed Cynder managing to hear her light steps in the grass over the dull noise of the two fighting dragons. After a moment though they disappeared, before Spyro could react he rammed into something big.

Cynder leapt up into the air her limited sight allowing her to see the large dragon's outline, along with her friends. Aegis was swinging blindly trying to score a hit on the large dragon. The few swings that did manage to make contact didn't even leave a scratch on the looming dragon. Cynder cringed as she saw Aegis get batted away by a large paw.

Collecting what courage she had the dragoness landed on Dante's back and bit down on his left wing, right by the connecting joint. The dragoness gnashed her teeth hoping to break the bone.

Her fierce attack made the large dark dragon let out a roar of anger. The roar sounded like thunder and made all of the younger dragons stop their actions, even Cynder stopped biting down on his wing. The roar was so great she almost apologized to Dante for hurting him.

"You know I just got a good idea." Azshea said not sure who would even hear her comment. The dragoness opened her maw and let a wave of bright orange fire out. She held the attack making it less powerful but that was not the intent of the attack.

The fire brightened the grove giving all of the dragons a good view of what they were up against. Dante stood in the middle of the grove, Cynder was still on his back and Spyro was beneath his paws. Aegis on the other hand was nowhere to be found. None of the dragons had time to find him though as they saw Dante for the first time.

Dante loomed over them all. His black scales were still sleek and glossy despite his older age. His muscular frame making the scales seem as though they would pop off from the strain of covering his body. His talons glistened white. Unlike most talons that were smooth these had ridges all along them making them even more cruel weapons. All the dragons saw his grey wings which were only partially open, but they imagined that if they extended to their full length then they would blot out the sun. One of his horns came out from the side of his head curving up and inward like a devil's horn. The other had been chipped off about halfway. Scars were covering his body the battle wounds making him seem like even more of a threat.

When the fire streamed into the air Dante hissed, and seemed to forget about all of the other dragons. Dante turned quickly and charged for Azshea. The sudden movement along with the light knocked Cynder off his back to land unceremoniously next to Spyro. Azshea saw the dragon coming and quickly dispersed the flames, before rolling out of harm's way. When the dragoness got back to her feet the meadow was pitch black again. She looked around trying to see where Dante was since he was probably close to her.

Suddenly, two enormous red eyes appeared before her. Dante had purposely closed his eyes for effect. The crimson eyes glared at her and Azshea heard a small malicious laugh that made her stumble back before freezing on the spot.

If the scarlet dragoness could see in the dark she would have seen death staring her in the face as the black dragon's tail sped towards her, the pointed metal tip aimed at her heart. In the back of her mind Azshea knew that something terrible was about to happen, but could make her limbs move, the large red iris seemed to stare through her. The dragoness screamed in her mind to move but no matter what she tried she couldn't bring her muscles to obey her mental command.

Aegis crawled through the blackness trying to make his way back to the fight. Dante had thrown him back into the forest, and he was just now getting to the glade. A sudden chuckle met his ears and the dragon zeroed in on the location. Without thinking of what might be in the way Aegis let the electricity, which coursed through his body, out in one single burst. The yellow bolts catapulted forth and luckily struck his foe in his side. Aegis almost let out a small cheer but stopped himself knowing that Dante was far from finished.

Azshea heard and saw the blast. The lightning seemed to break her from her paralysis, and she began to sprint away from where she was standing. Although the blow had knocked Dante off balance it had only altered his aim slightly. The tail blade continued despite the electrical energy and it snapped through Azshea's left wing with a gut wrenching sound.

With all of the adrenaline coursing through her body Azshea didn't even notice the painful wound at first, seconds later though, she found herself being flung through the air. She felt the puncture in her wing turn into a long incision, the wing tearing as Dante's tail completed its swinging motion. It sounded like fabric tearing and it hurt all the dragon's ears. Azshea launched through the air before hitting a large tree trunk only a few feet away, before she fell to the ground tears welling up at the corners of her eyes as she began to feel pain in her wing. She fell to the ground with a thud and didn't move.

"Dante we just want to talk!" Spyro shouted, finding his words for the first time since the fighting had started. He didn't know how much good they would do him now but he had to try.

There was no reply, and so Spyro let forth another burst of fire to light up the area, hoping that if he could see he could communicate. The flames however barely made it two inches from his face as they crashed into Dante's head. The black dragon reeled back in dismay at the fierce attack. Spyro began to apologize hoping to calm the dragon down and not incite another attack from the dangerous beast.

His words were drowned out though by a sudden crackling of lightning. He and Cynder both looked behind them to see Aegis; the dragon had supercharged his body with energy. Sparks sprang out of his scales in all directions, until a constant aura of energy surrounded him. The yellow dragon sprinted forward towards the, still stunned, black dragon.

Aegis slammed into him, hard. To everyone's surprise, Aegis' force lifted Dante off the ground and sent him tumbling backwards. All the dragons looked to Aegis in awe; none of them had known him to be that strong. Aegis stumbled slightly as the built up energy wisped away.

"Now, settle down, so we can talk." The dragon huffed angrily still in a fighting stance despite his words of a truce.

Another dark laugh came from the darkness and Dante's eyes burned red, and it looked to the dragons as though small streams of red energy were coming from them.

The laughter stopped. "I'm just getting started."

Solris eyes snapped open wide. The dragoness inhaled desperately trying to get oxygen to her awaiting heart. As the life-giving air entered her body the dragoness' vision steadied. The blurriness left her slowly but surely. After she had resumed her normal heart rate the dragoness' green iris scanned around her small amount of vision.

Solris could only see a large cavern looming above her. Many stalactites hung down and the dragoness feared that at any second one of them would fall and impale her. The gruesome thought sent her mind whirling. "Wait, I should be dead." The dragoness said out loud in surprise remembering the previous events.

"That's right." She heard a familiar voice say.

The dragoness turned her head to see Astir standing over her, an unfamiliar locket hanging around his neck by a brass chain. The memories rushed back to her then, the dragon stabbing her, and then her sudden death.

"You bastard!" The dragoness yelled angrily, rising to her feet ready to tear the dragon's heart out.

"Whoa, there." Astir said in feigned surprise.

As Solris stood on all fours, and the blood rushed to her head, she stumbled slightly trying hard to get her bearings. The dragoness swung a feeble paw trying in vain to get at Astir. The dark dragon watched the clawed paw come slowly towards his body and he easily batted it away.

"I'm sure you're wondering why you are back in the land of the living." Astir said plainly.

Solris stopped moving and gave him a sharp look.

"The others convinced me that it would be better for us to keep you alive." The dragon then fondled the pendant around his neck. "Well, alive with one exception." He added slyly.

"What do you mean?" Solris asked her temper about to flare again.

Astir laughed at her obvious anger. "No need to hide your nervousness, Solris." The dragon said looking her up and down. "You're shaking you know."

"Out with it Astir!" The dragoness said losing her temper and stepping towards the dragon threateningly. Despite the angry front she was putting on the dragoness was truly scared for what Astir had in store. He must have found something very powerful in order to bring back a dead dragon.

As the dragoness moved forward Astir let gave an "Ah, ah, ah."

Solris suddenly stopped moving, frozen in place. The dragoness moved her eyes in astonishment. Her body would not respond and after realizing this she looked at Astir, who had almost fallen on the ground laughing.

"You see Solris, I did bring you back, but this time." The dragon paused for a moment to enjoy the show he himself was controlling. Solris' body suddenly moved, seemingly of its own will. The dragoness felt herself forced into a sitting position. In horror she watched as her front paws moved up to her chest. Solris tried as hard as she could to stop the movement, but only managed to make her arms tremble while they moved, and eventually she gave up. Her forearms interlocked and with one instantaneous movement they ripped apart, her claws tearing down both arms leaving long cuts.

Solris wanted to scream, but couldn't open her lips. Astir laughed at her and released his grip on the black dragoness' body, and she fell to the ground.

Solris pulled herself up slowly. "What did you do to me?" She growled just as angry as she was scared.

"What? No thanks for bringing you back from the dead?" Astir asked feigning hurt.

"What did you do?" The dragoness screamed and began to jump towards Astir.

She didn't get far though. When Astir saw her muscles flex he reinstated his hold over her body. Solris' body released its tension and her tail curled around to her neck. Solris felt the cold tip of the blade come to press against her soft scales. For a moment the dragoness thought that Astir had only brought her back to gut her again. Her blood chilled at the thought of facing death, again.

"It's quite simple actually Solris." Astir said, as he walked slowly around the dragoness, eyeing her as he went. "You see when I brought you back a part of my energy was infused in you." The dragon made his way back to her front so that she could see him again. "Subsequently, now I have power over your very body, not to mention that I can hear your thoughts and even see what you see if I want."

The dragon paused for a moment. "By the way, I am not going to kill you." Astir said another grin appearing on his face as he saw Solris' eyes widen.

"What do you plan to do?" The dragoness asked, surprised that she could move her mouth to speak.

"Nothing really, you see Solris, if you behave there will be no need to do anything. This is only a precaution." The dragon paused pensively for a moment before continuing. "If I do happen to catch you doing something you shouldn't…" The dragon trailed off and Solris' tail pressed harder to her own skin drawing a thin line of blood. "Well, you know." He finished.

"Are we understood?" He asked.

Solris gave a very small nod in response. As the reality set in the dragoness realized that she wanted to cry. The sudden release of her body caused her to fall to the ground again with a small thud.

"Get up, I need to check on things, and you are coming with me." Astir said.

"Why should I?" Solris snapped.

Astir fondled the pendant on his neck and Solris stiffened in fear. The dragoness quickly complied ignoring the pain in her forearms, although she cringed slightly as she felt blood trickle down her scales.

Solris followed behind Astir who walked out of what Solris now realized was only a small side cavern. The soft loamy earth crunched between the dragoness' paws, the small feeling seemed like a great thing to Solris. This only proved to herself how lucky she was to have come back from the dead, even if she was under Astir's direct control.

The two dragons walked down a long tunnel in silence for a long time. A sudden question popped into Solris head. The dragoness was about to ask but couldn't decide if now was a good time or not.

"What do you want to ask me Solris?" The dragon said, suddenly startling the dragoness.

Solris had already forgotten that the dark dragon could read his thoughts. She would have to get used to it quick before something private slipped out.

"Um, if you brought me back with that pendant why didn't you bring back Malefor with it?" Solris asked.

Astir gave a sigh of frustration; he had expected Solris to be able to figure out a bit more than this. "We didn't bring Malefor back because of two reasons. First, you need the body of the deceased. Second, you can only resurrect someone shortly after their death." The dragon paused and looked at her. "You were lucky."

The dragoness grew silent after he ended his explanation. She didn't have much else to ask. She had already surmised that they were in the cave that had stored Malefor's treasure. Instead of thinking she turned her mind to the tunnel around her.

The two dragons quickly emerged in a much larger cavern. It held multiple platforms and levels splitting the cave up into smaller sections. On the separate areas were piles of treasure. To Solris it seemed unreal that this many precious items had been collected. The dragoness started to form words but Astir answered before she could speak.

"Malefor raided many places during his reign. These are the rewards he reaped, a pity that he would seldom use them." The black dragon said.

Reave stomped his way up to the two, his massive body crushing the ground below him and packing the loose dirt. "Good to see you back, Solris. I wouldn't want you to die before I knew you more personally." The dark dragon said, staring at the dragoness lustily.

"I didn't come back here to see you Reave; in fact I would be happier if you were just dead." Solris said venom in her voice.

"Such harsh words, but you should know by now that they don't bother me." Reave said.

"Quiet you two!" Astir said forcefully, drawing both dragons' attention. He then turned to address the apes that were scattered across the cavern each of them taking armor and weapons of their choosing. "My friends!" He called getting their attention before continuing. "My friends I hope that you have found what you need. In fact I implore you to take extra, for we will be meeting up with more of your brethren on the way to Warfang. It is there that you shall have your vengeance!" The dragon's speech sent the apes into a frenzy the mention of killing dragons in their own city seemed very appealing to all of them.

Astir turned to Solris and smiled. The dragoness felt sick to her stomach, the idea of being brought back just to see more death and destruction sent a chill through her body.

"So you're telling me that these seven dragons of darkness are real?" Blaze asked the fire dragoness astonishment evident in his voice.

The two dragons still stood in Blaze's private chamber. Krista lay on the pillow lazily the dragoness almost seemed bored with all of the exciting news. Blaze on the other hand had been pacing and listening intently to the fire dragoness' story.

"Yes, guardian. These dragons that Spyro and Cynder spoke of are real, but the things that they have told you concerning them are probably lies." Ashe clarified. The dragoness knew that in order to make Blaze believe her she would have to dispel anything that Spyro and Cynder had said to him before.

"And you're telling me that Cynder is there leader?" Blaze asked his eyes still looking upon the dragoness intently.

"What better way to infiltrate this city." Ashe said.

"Besides Cynder being a spy you say that she has converted Spyro and the ex-guardians too."

Ashe nodded. Seeing her answer Blaze walked around the room pondering silently the dragoness' grim story. Ashe watched him with eagle eyes monitoring his every move.

"Alright, and on top of all this Azshea has been kidnapped by them as a method to keep you silent."

Again Ashe nodded.

"Ashe, in all honesty your story sounds farfetched, and most likely untrue." Blaze said and Ashe's face had a quick snap of anger before returning to normal. "The likelihood of this happening is astronomical." The red dragon paused and looked to Krista for some sort of guidance.

"Remember the past, Blaze." She said simply.

Considering her words Blaze continued. "Although, Cynder was at one time corrupted, and therefore what stops me from thinking that she is not evil once again."

"Exactly, that dragoness has been bad news since she 'converted'." Ashe said, putting emphasis on the last word.

"Well, say Cynder was evil, then my guess is that Spyro must be also. There is no way that she could keep it a secret from him, they are practically mates." Blaze surmised.

"Yes, my point exactly." Ashe said, happy to see that her plan was coming together.

"Why would the ex-guardians turn on us though?" Blaze asked truly puzzled by the prospect since unlike Spyro and Cynder he bore no ill will towards them.

"Don't you see?" The dragoness asked moving closer to the guardian. "They want to usurp your power. They joined Cynder to once again replace you and your fellow guardians." Ashe said.

Blaze looked at Ashe skeptically. The pieces made sense in his mind, but they were just going on this one dragoness' speculation. Blaze honestly didn't know what to do.

Ashe saw his face contort as he tried to decide on what to do. She realized then that he would need one final push.

"I hope you realize that if you choose wrong here you will be blamed. The entire downfall of the dragon race will be pinned on your shoulders." Ashe said.

"Are they really that bad?" Blaze asked. Ashe gave a slow nod to show the seriousness of her façade.

"It is better to be safe than sorry." She said. "Just kill one dragoness and the rest will fall." The dragoness paused before adding. "Although it wouldn't hurt to get the others either."

Blaze looked at her truly torn. The fire dragon closed his eyes trying to think. Suddenly instead of seeing the darkness of his eyelids he saw Warfang ablaze. The fire raged all around him. The buildings had fallen and the dragons and moles had been killed. On top of the broken temple were Spyro and Cynder both of them laughing manically.

Blaze's eyes snapped open. "Alright, we'll catch them, and question them. If they fail to answer, then they will die." Blaze said. His response brought a small smile to Ashe's face. "But, I would like to keep this just between us and the guards; there is no need to bring citizens into this matter, for they will only complicate it."

"If you like I can bring the ex-guardians to you now." Ashe said.

"Yes, do that, but we will let the guards worry about Spyro and Cynder, no doubt they won't go without a fight." Blaze said.

"As you wish, guardian." Ashe said with a bow before diving off of the nearby balcony. The dragoness grinned to herself; she couldn't believe how easily the guardian had been manipulated.

Everything was going perfectly.

Dante jumped to his feet and dark energy burst from his body. The shadowy energy lashing across the field, as it crossed over the dragons they felt small cuts appear on their scales they cringed slightly, but decided to stand firm, knowing that by now there would be no escape.

"Hey guys what is going on over here?" Sparx yelled from the edge of the meadow. The dragonfly had only recently noticed what was happening and flew over to check it out.

"Sparx get out of here now, before you get killed!" Spyro yelled. He couldn't even see the dragonfly through the smoky energy that swirled around them, but he didn't have to see him to know that the dragonfly was in potential danger.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Sparx yelled and moved back a bit. The dragonfly was worried about his friends but knew that this situation was far out of his control.

The shadows that slithered along the ground still hurt the dragons, but they didn't know what to do. Slowly, a pale light shown down through the tops of the trees above them, eventually covering the entire glade, the moon had finally come out from behind the cloudy night sky. The light shone down giving the dragons a dim but reasonable light source.

"Finally, I can see again." Aegis said.

The foggy energy seemed to evaporate under the light and left only a thin layer that covered their paws.

"You may be able to see but, if you guys haven't noticed Dante is gone." Azshea said scanning the area. The dragoness had regained her footing. She was ignoring the pain in her wing for the moment but she had no doubt that soon it would overwhelm her willpower.

The dragons all looked around hesitantly. A quick roar from Aegis told them where Dante had gone. The dark dragon burst up from the shadowy fog underneath their feet. The dragon grabbed Aegis in his maw and crunched down. The yellow dragon had luckily managed to curl himself into a small ball that kept him from being completely crushed. Seeing that his effort was futile Dante gave up and threw the dragon. Aegis was flung through the air, and he smashed into a tree, breaking through the trunk, and falling onto the ground with a heavy groan.

Azshea let loose a burst of fire, but Dante was faster he quickly ducked back underground, and came up in a spot that was much closer to Azshea. Dante smiled before blasting the dragon with dark fire, enough heat to probably incinerate her.

While Dante was distracted Spyro charged forward. He shot three icy spikes. Two of which only bounced off the dragon's skin harmlessly. The third however punctured his scales causing him to turn in anger.

Spyro dived out of the way of a glob of poison, before ramming into the dragon's chest. Cynder took to the sky, and rained shadow fire down like raindrops. The black fire pelting and burning Dante's skin, but this was no more than an annoyance. He didn't have time to worry about her though as Spyro came back up from his dive. The purple dragon used his powerful legs to propel himself into the air and ram his horns into Dante's chin, the powerful attack stunning the black dragon.

"Had, enough?" Spyro asked the staggering dragon.

Spyro cringed a second later when he heard another bloodcurdling roar from Dante. The dragon suddenly gained his footing again, quicker than either thought he could. The dark dragon's tail spun around in a complete circle. First it knocked into Spyro sending him into the dirt. As the tail continued its swing Cynder gracefully dodged under it.

The move caught Dante's eye, and his tail snapped back to knock her from the air. Cynder did manage to flap her wings once more, hoping to slow herself, before slamming into the grass painfully. Both dragons tried to get to their feet, both of them knowing what was to come if they did not.

Dante however ended that endeavor. The dark dragon crushed Spyro under a heavy paw knocking the wind out of him. Maneuvering his tail expertly, the dragon managed to grab Cynder and constrict her. Spyro could only struggle as he tried in vain to move the giant paw that was crushing him. He couldn't even inhale to bring up one of his breath attacks. When he tried he only coughed hard making his situation worse.

Cynder fared just as badly. Dante's tail was slowly closing on her slowly taking away her ability to breathe. She knew this was the end if something didn't happen soon.

"Dante, stop." She said feebly the words hardly more than a whisper.

The mention of his name only interested the dragon slightly, but he continued his choking hold. When he looked at the dragoness more closely he noticed something peculiar about her, but he couldn't place it.

"Dante, you know me!" Cynder said desperately, remembering what the guardians had told her.

Dante's hold lessened but only slightly. Something was different here he could feel it.

Cynder felt his grip lessen and she took her chance. "It's me, Cynder." She coughed the last of her oxygen running out.

The mention of her own name startled the dark dragon and he dropped Cynder to the ground. The dragoness fell the few feet and landed hard. She could have cared less though, and she quickly sucked oxygen into her lungs.

"Dante it's me, and these are my friends stop!" She yelled trying to stop Spyro's slow suffocating death. The dragoness rushed over and tried as much as she could to lift Dante's paw off. When the dragon finally lifted his own paw Cynder fell down and landed on Spyro's stomach. Spyro who had been on the verge of losing consciousness smiled at her as he began to breathe deeply, Cynder smiled back but only for a second.

The dragoness quickly remembered where she was and she got up to look at Dante.

"Thank you for not killing us." She said although it sounded odd to her to be thanking him.

Dante didn't speak for a long time he just looked the dragoness over. After a long awkward moment he spoke for the first time. "Do you remember me Cynder?" His voice was deep and surprisingly calm, even soothing.

After getting past the initial shock of his voice Cynder responded. "I only know that you may have taught me back when I was under the dark master's control."

"I see." Dante said, he paused for a moment before saying. "Why don't you make sure that your friends are okay before we continue. Cynder nodded, although the whole moment seemed crazy to her. Two minutes ago she had been fighting for her life, and now she was having a conversation with her enemy.

Nonetheless, Cynder nodded and helped Spyro get to his feet. The two first went to Azshea. As it turned out she hadn't been killed by the shadow fire. The dragoness had in fact enacted a fire shield to block most of the heat. Although, the dragoness still bore many burn marks on her flesh.

After assuring that she was okay the three found Aegis. The yellow dragon was already up and limping back to them. Each of the dragons were awestruck that Aegis could have taken so much punishment, and gotten up so quickly. When they asked him how he was able to withstand the pain he only responded saying. "I've had a very rough life, pain is a common companion."

The dragons turned back to Dante. Cynder leading the way.

"Dante we came here to talk to you about something very important." She said.

**A/N: One more quick AN. I just want to say that if I am complicating this story to much I'm sorry, hopefully if you're like me you enjoy twists instead of a straight forward plot. Anyway tell me what you thought.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Whew more writer's block but I got the chapter done. Enjoy!**

"What do you want to know, Cynder?" Dante asked. By now his calm voice had fallen. As he waited for the dragons to compose themselves his small amount of patience had been used up. The black dragon had even less patience for things that revolved around his turbulent past, only making things worse.

"We want to know about, the seven dragons that you trained. The seven dragons of darkness." Cynder said hesitantly. Only minutes before she had been fighting with this dragon and she was still nervous around him.

"The seven dragons of darkness?" Dante asked curiously. The younger dragons nodded hoping beyond hope that Dante would have something to tell them. After a moment Dante responded saying. "What do you mean seven? I only trained six?"

The dragons all gasped in surprise. "What?" Cynder asked putting all the other dragon's thoughts into words.

"I only trained six dragons." Dante said narrowing his eyes in annoyance at having to repeat himself. Cynder froze not sure what to saw next, the combination of his eyes glaring at her and his actual response making her freeze up.

"But how is that possible they call themselves the _seven_ dragons of darkness." Azshea said taking over where Cynder had left off.

"You are asking me questions that I cannot possibly answer." Dante growled. "Perhaps they converted another to their cause."

"You think that they could do that?" Spyro asked.

"Why not" Dante said, making Spyro feel very uncomfortable, the purple dragon found that he didn't want to argue with such a destructive force.

"I don't think that you all understand the power that those dragons hold. They are not just any adolescent dragons causing mischief!" Dante yelled losing his temper at the group's arrogance.

"Then why don't you tell us what they can do." Aegis asked, in a demanding tone as he limped forward, his leg still injured from when Dante had thrown him through a tree. Despite his injury the dragon still stared Dante down, not afraid of the intimidating dragon in any way.

After a moment of silence the large dragon gave a great laugh. If there was one thing he admired it was spunk. "What do you want to know?" He asked as he settled down again. The golden dragon's display tempering the black dragon's anger.

"Anything!" Cynder said losing her patience. Upon her outburst Spyro gave her a gentle pat on her shoulder, hoping to calm her down.

The dragoness looked to him desperately, but gave him a confirming nod and Spyro continued. "If you could, how about their history?" Spyro said, stepping forward.

Dante sighed. "There is not much to tell. The _six_ were stolen as eggs." All of the dragons almost corrected him. The number six did not register with them yet, since they were so used to hearing seven. "Well, all of the dragons except for one." The dragon corrected himself. Aegis upon hearing this, hung his head knowing who that dragon was. "When they hatched all of them were infused with dark energy. Only three were infused to the point of having their scales blackened. The others were left as an average color, so as to blend into the surrounding dragon communities. This stealthy approach would let them gather information on their enemies."

"Trias!" Spyro said suddenly, interrupting the black dragon, who sent a scowl the purple dragon's way. Spyro hardly noticed. "That's why Trias was yellow, and not black." The dragon surmised.

"Trias," Dante paused after he said the word as if tasting it. "That's a name I haven't heard in a long time, and one I hope to never hear again." Dante spat in disgust.

"What about Reave, the dragon that you didn't take as an egg." Aegis asked suddenly adjusting the subject.

"How did you know that?" Dante asked suspiciously. Dante looked Aegis up and down and after a moment gave a small gasp. "You were…" The black dragon trailed off not knowing how to finish his sentence.

"Yes, I was," Aegis confirmed with narrowed eyes, telling the dragon to not elaborate. "Now what about Reave?" Aegis asked quickly moving off the topic of his past.

Dante sighed. "I am sorry." He said simply as he hung his head. He never thought that he would meet Aegis, but now that he had, his past deeds were tearing at his heart as he stared down at the golden dragon. The dragons looked at him with curious eyes, unsure of what he would say. Dante seemed almost compassionate, which none of them would have expected. "Reave was trained like the others. At first I told Malefor that he wouldn't excel because he had not been trained since birth…I was proven wrong though, after about the first month Reave excelled far past the others, almost to the point of catching Malefor's eye."  
"I…is there…any chance he can…b-be changed back?" Aegis stuttered afraid of the answer that was creeping in the back of his mind.

Dante kept quiet for a moment, he didn't want to answer the question but he had no choice. "I am sorry, but I saw him become corrupted. There is no hope for him now." The dark dragon said before averting his eyes. He felt horrible for what he had done but it was too late to change that now.

"Damn it!" The yellow dragon screamed, slamming his paw into the ground, thunder cracking overhead in response, startling all of the dragons except for Dante. Aegis' friends took a few steps back from the out of control electric dragon. To their surprise there was no more thunder or lightning. Silent tears rolled down Aegis' face, as defeat settled in. The small meadow was silent for a few minutes; the only sound that could be heard was Aegis' quiet whimpers. "Why didn't you do anything?" He yelled suddenly at the black dragon.

Dante didn't respond. He had no words to console the dragon. He felt terrible but there was nothing that he could do now.

"Aegis, it's okay, we can figure something out." Azshea said hoping to comfort him somehow.

Aegis didn't respond. Up until now the dragon had held a slim hope that his brother could be convinced to stop what he was doing. Seeing Dante had made that reality seem a little more graspable but now the fantasy had ended. "The only option left is to kill him." The dragon said his voice breaking at the grim revelation.

He looked around to see everyone staring at him. "Look, don't worry about me; we came here for information so let's get it." The yellow dragon said turning his eyes away from his friends and focusing them on the grass beneath him. The others gave a small reluctant nod and everyone's eyes turned back to Dante.

"Well, the dragons function was one of backup." The black dragon continued. "If in the occasion that Malefor couldn't take over the world, these dragons would finish the job." Dante explained trying to get his mind back on track.

"Well that explains why no one ever saw them during the war." Cynder said.

"Do they have any weakness, anything that we can exploit?" Spyro asked hopefully.

Dante shook his head. "No, they were made to be the ultimate fighting squad. The dragons are proficient at just about everything they would need to fight their enemies. We did train them to be like Cynder." Dante said.

"Like me?" The dragoness asked surprised. The words stung her but she could not run away from her past. Nonetheless, the knowledge that the seven were supposed to be like her made her stomach turn.

"Yes Cynder, Malefor saw you as his greatest servant, and so he decided that it would be in his best interest to make duplicates." Dante said. The sentence sent chills down the dragoness' spine and she visibly shivered. Spyro noted this and quickly wrapped a wing around her. Cynder hardly noticed, as she was still processing all the information. It seemed odd to her that Malefor would try to make more dragons like her when she had in fact turned against him.

"So is it even possible to take them down?" Spyro asked changing the subject, seeing that it was not helping Cynder to stay where they were.

"It is possible, but it would be incredibly difficult. If you want to have any hope of defeating them you need to isolate them and then attack. If you cannot do that then you will surely fail." Dante said grimly.

"What about a location is there any place that they would want to attack, or any place where we could find them?" Azshea asked hopefully.

"As far as a place to attack I would say a dragon city, the bigger the better."

"Warfang." Spyro confirmed and the others nodded in agreement.

Dante nodded. "I am sorry, but I don't know where they could be hiding. Most likely though they are not hiding, they would probably be up in arms right now trying to continue Malefor's work."

"Thank you Dante, for all of your help. We will leave you in peace now, unless you have anything else to say." Spyro said eyeing the dragon intently.

"If I may I would like to speak with both Cynder and Aegis." Dante said. Spyro eyed him suspiciously for a moment before nodding. He released Cynder from under his wing and gave her a small nuzzle to rouse her from her thoughts. The dragoness jumped slightly from the sudden temperature change and even more from the purple dragon's contact. Cynder looked to Spyro, and gave a weak smile but she fooled no one with it. She was obviously far from okay. Even though he saw this Spyro walked away with Azshea. The purple dragon knew that Dante must have something important to tell her if he wanted to talk in private. As the purple and red dragons left, Dante looked down at the two dragons before him.

"Aegis-

"How do you know my name?" The yellow dragon said cutting him off. He was still unhappy to know that Dante had stood by and watched his brother change into one of Malefor's servants.

"Aegis, I know your name because of your brother." Dante said. Aegis looked at him skeptically, not sure what to make of the statement. "That first month that he was with us, he mentioned you every day."

"What?" Aegis asked astounded.

"Every day he would tell us about you. He felt so bad for what he had done." The adult dragon paused. "He never forgot you; he still knows that you are fighting to save him."

"But I can't, you said so yourself, it's too late!" The yellow dragon said tears welling up in his eyes again.

"Aegis, what I ask now is that you save him in a different way. End his suffering. I have never seen a dragon fight the corruption so much."

"Reave…" Aegis said sadly.

"Remember him for what he was and not what he is now." Dante said. When he got no response from the golden dragon he added. "Now go with your friends, perhaps they can help you come to some conclusions.

Aegis nodded and turned to leave. As he walked away Dante barely made out the words. "Thank you."

Dante didn't respond he just turned his head over to Cynder. The dragoness stared up at him with wide eyes, not sure what news he would tell her next. The very thought of something so important had her shaking slightly.

"Cynder." Dante said the dark dragon trying to calm her down, with words since he didn't feel right making any physical gesture towards her.

"Cynder you must listen to me, for this is important." Dante said. Cynder slowly raised her head forcing herself to meet his eyes.

"Cynder I want you to be careful." The dragon said. Cynder looked at him curiously as if she thought that was already implied. Dante continued after seeing her confusion. "Cynder the seven could be after you. Malefor raised them hoping that some day they would become seven Cynder's, terrors of the sky. Although you are no longer corrupted they may seek to corrupt you again."

"Why me though?" Cynder asked. The news shocked her but not nearly as much as she thought it would.

"You were a prize to the dark master, and therefore a legend to them. They were told stories of your evil triumphs, and they fed off of them. It is quite possible that they would like to rekindle your darkness and once again see you on their side."

"You really think they would want to do that?" Cynder asked a shiver coursing down her spine as she contemplated the unpleasant thought of being corrupted again.

"I do not know and therefore I want you to be careful, I would not want to see you hurt. After all you are the one that inspired me." Dante explained.

"Inspired you?" Cynder asked cocking her head to the side.

"Yes, you are the reason I left. You fought against Malefor's corruption and won. When I realized what I was doing, and that I could change it I fought my way out of the Dark Master's lair." Dante said.

Cynder fumbled with her words trying to ask another question, but she could find none.

"You should catch up with your friends." Dante said quietly. The statement told Cynder that it was time to take her leave. The dragoness bowed and thanked Dante for his help before turning to catch up to her friends.

Terrodar paced the room impatiently. Morning had been followed closely by a restless sleep. Cyril and Volteer watched him with weary eyes. They felt just as scared, if not more, for Spyro and his friends.

"Terrodar settle down." Cyril said his head swiveling back and forth in order to keep the earth dragon in sight.

"How can I?" Terrodar asked anger showing in his voice.

"We are nervous but we are not pacing the room like a caged animal." Cyril retorted his tone far from understanding.

"Maybe you just don't care for them like I do then!" Terrodar yelled, the stress finally sending him over the edge.

"Don't you question us about that!" Cyril yelled back. The blue dragon stood up and stalked over to Terrodar. "We have stood by Spyro's side for as long as you have! You have no right to tell us that we don't care!"

The two dragons stared hard at each other neither saying a word. The tension could be felt in the room around them, like a dense cloud. Finally, Volteer broke the silence, for he could see small snowflakes falling from Cyril's sides and in his ears he could hear the ground rumble slightly. The signs showed him that he must step in, lest his friends begin to brawl right then and there.

"Both of you settle down!" Volteer yelled as he stood up. When the yellow dragon raised his voice both dragons looked to him in surprise. Over all the years that the three had been together they very rarely heard Volteer yell, when they did it hear him yell it came as a shock. "Are you both so old that you can't see that you are fighting over nothing?" The dragon asked. "We all have the same concern for Spyro and his friends but there is nothing that we can do for them right now, we just have to be patient!"

After a moment Volteer added in a much calmer voice. "Now you two make up, there is no use in getting your scales in a bunch at such a petty argument." Volteer concluded.

Terrodar and Cyril looked at each other with disdainful eyes, but the heat of the argument had faded away. The two dragons only nodded for the moment, giving no verbal signs of forgiveness.

"How touching." They heard a sweet voice say. The dragons turned to see Ashe standing in the doorway to their home. The dragoness' voice had obviously been feigned and all of the dragons fixed her with a scowl.

Ashe was somewhat surprised at herself. Instead of taking a head on approach she had thought things through. Although she had been commissioned with getting the guardians last night she had waited until morning when she was rested to retrieve them.

The dragoness saw their glaring eyes and a saddened look grew upon her face. "Not happy to see me?" She asked mildly entertained by her own words.

"What do you want Ashe?" Terrodar asked, his patience had already been tried that morning, and he was in no mood for the fire dragoness.

"I have come back to retrieve someone." The dragoness said a small smile creeping onto her features before she quickly dispelled it.

"What did you leave here? As I recall you brought nothing with you." Cyril said suspicion showing in his voice.

"Not what, but who." The dragoness said her smile growing wider.

"Azshea is not here, she left with Spyro yesterday." Volteer said.

"Not her." Ashe growled, the dragon's incapability to understand the situation was making her angrier. When she noted all of their blank stares she continued. "I have come for all of you." She said getting surprised looks from the elders.

"Blaze wants to see all of you." Ashe explained.

"Why does he want to see us?" Cyril asked. The prospect of seeing the arrogant fire dragon seemed very unappealing to him.

"A private audience about private matters." The dragoness said evading the question. "I assure you that I know nothing of it, I was only sent to get you."

"What if we refuse?" Terrodar asked stepping forward.

"You cannot refuse." Ashe said as she examined her sharp talons. She looked up with a wicked smile on her face. "Shall we?"

"You honestly think that you can best all three of us at once?" Cyril asked angrily.

Ashe laughed. "You don't know the true extent of my power."

"Cyril, Terrodar don't resort to fighting, it wouldn't solve anything. If the guardian wants to see us, who are we to refuse?"

"Volteer?" Terrodar asked astounded by his answer.

"They haven't even given us a reason to fight; perhaps this is just a normal meeting. If Blaze demands an audience then we must give him one." Volteer said standing up and walking over to Ashe.

The two dragons were astounded. Why Volteer would willingly submit to someone like Ashe was beyond them. Despite their curiosity Volteer had made a good point that there was no reason to fight, yet. The two nodded and followed Ashe through the doorway. None of them could deny that they were curious as to what the guardian wanted.

The four dragons flew full speed over the vast green forest below. They were fast approaching Warfang, and were eager to get back. They didn't know when or where an attack would come but Dante had given them hope that if they took the right actions they could defeat the seven. Many things still puzzled them though. All of them wondered which dragons were corrupted, yet normal looking.

The dragons had to stop thinking about these things though as they neared the wall of Warfang they found two guards block them off. All six dragons hovered in the air each of them eyeing each other.

"What's wrong?" Spyro asked, he had never seen guards stop anyone who was heading into Warfang before.

"We have direct orders to round you and your friends up!" One of the guards, a young ice dragon, said nervously. He was in fact a very new guard and had seen no action, and felt very insecure going up against the dragons that had killed Malefor himself. Not to mention their friends.

"Direct orders from who?" Cynder asked, suspicious of the whole situation.

"We are not to say, devil!" The other dragon, an older fire dragon said loudly. The dragon wore many scars, and eyed Cynder with hatred.

"What did you call her?" Spyro asked not sure if he had heard correctly.

"You heard me! You should be ashamed of yourself too. You pretend to be a hero but we know the truth now!" The dragon yelled angrily, fire flaring out of his nose.

"What are you talking about?" Azshea asked.

"Nothing that concerns you whelp!" The fire dragon said turning his glare on Azshea, who shot him an angry glare.

"Look, we have your friends already. Why don't you just come with us and-

"Our friends? You mean Terrodar, Cyril, and Volteer." Spyro surmised. When he got no answer he continued. "You kidnapped them? I swear if there is one scratch on them-

"Spyro!" Cynder said calming him down. "The guardians?" She asked the purple dragon.

"Blaze." Spyro growled irritated by saying the name alone. He turned to his friends who gave a nod. Shortly after he gave only a smirk to the hovering guards before diving past them, the two looked astounded as each of the younger dragons snapped through the air past them.

The fire guard reacted quickly and fire burst from his maw. Azshea, predicting this to happen, and she spun in a somersault twisting her body around in the process. The dragoness breathed a dense ball of fire. The two fire balls collided, and melded together before exploding. After the fire disappeared Azshea stuck out her tongue before twisting through the air and catching up to her friends. The older guard growled loudly and gnashed his teeth.

"What should we do captain?" The younger dragon asked as he watched the four fly on.

"Go get the others I'm following them." He said before diving after the dragons.

The four young dragons sped across the city. As they flew each of them noticed more guards growing closer to them. They were slowly being cornered as they flew towards the temple that stood high in the middle of the city.

"More guards are closing in." Aegis said looking around with mild interest.

"We'll be fine." Spyro said. The purple dragon was determined to get to the temple.

"What do you think is going on?" Cynder asked as she too looked at the dragon guards closing in on them.

"I don't know but I think we can find some answers there." Spyro said nodding towards the temple.

"Problem!" Azshea yelled, catching all of their attention.

"What?" They all asked in unison.

"I think I made that creepy guard angry." Azshea said nodding behind her. Each of the dragons looked behind them to see the same adult fire dragon. He gave a large huff sending fire in their direction. Although it was for show each of the dragons cringed as they felt the heat sear their backs.

"What did you do?" Aegis asked angrily.

"I sort of taunted him." Azshea said timidly.

"What? Why?" Aegis groaned.

"It seemed like the right thing to do."

"How is that ever the right thing to do?"

The two dragons continued bickering and eventually Spyro and Cynder turned their eyes back to the temple. When the time came they both knew that the dragons would act accordingly.

"They're closing the door!" Cynder said alarmed. Down on the ground the dragons were indeed closing the main entrance to ensure that the group would not enter. Outside the door guards were forming a line of defense. Unfortunately for the group that entrance was the only way in, for they didn't have time to find a balcony entrance.

'Why would they bare the entrance if they want us to go here?" Cynder asked.

"They think we are attacking." Spyro told her.

"Are we?" Cynder asked.

Spyro sighed. "We have little choice. I'll clear the ground, and then you blast the door open." Spyro explained and Cynder nodded.

After realizing what he was saying the dragoness looked down to all the guards on the ground. "How do you plan to do that?" Cynder asked looking back to the purple dragon.

Spyro didn't respond and suddenly there was a crashing sound from the ground. Cynder looked down to see earth flying straight towards them. At first the dragoness thought an earth dragon was attacking them, but she quickly realized that it was Spyro's doing.

The stone piled around the dragon in a sphere shape. Just before the last hole in the ball closed Cynder saw the purple dragon's smirk. Suddenly, the granite ball dropped from the sky and sped towards the ground where all of the dragons stood. Cynder wasn't sure but she thought she could see some of them panic as Spyro dropped towards them.

Cynder shook her head. A flicker of worry passed over her but in the back of her mind she knew that Spyro had things under control.

"Hey, cover us!" Cynder yelled back to the two dragons who were still fighting with each other. They both stopped talking, snapping to attention and looked at her curiously.

"Where's Spyro?" Azshea asked. Cynder only gave a small nod towards the ground. A sudden explosion followed a second later. A massive cloud of dust signaled that Spyro had landed.

"I'll cover him." Aegis said and dived down quickly becoming covered in dust.

Cynder waited a moment for the dust to clear before diving towards the ground herself, Azshea following close behind her.

Cynder flew along the ground and after a moment planted her feet. Taking the speed she already had, Cynder flapped her wings several times. Multiple waves to dense air shot towards the door clearing anything in their way. The wind was so strong that the door flew open and slammed against the back walls.

"Get inside!" Cynder yelled. All of the younger dragons sprinted inside the doorway. Aegis being the last to enter stopped at the doorway. When he saw all of the guards surrounding them he formulated a plan. The dragon charged the energy in his body. When he saw the fire dragon that had been chasing them land he released that energy. He had neither the time nor the heart to charge a full attack on these guards. Instead static shot forth snapping between all of the dragons. The sudden charge of energy made all of the dragons stiff before they fell to the ground temporarily immobile. Aegis turned and ran after his friends not looking back to see if more guards would follow. Luckily, for him none did.

The dragons didn't have to go very far. After they climbed two floors they found Blaze and Krista in a large circular room. Off to the side Ashe and the ex-guardians stood watching the scene.

"What's going on Blaze?" Spyro asked angrily.

"No, 'hello's' or 'how's it going'?" The fire dragon asked. "You all need some manners."

"Cut the act; tell us what's going on!" Cynder growled.

"Fine, if you must know. I have information that you are all working with the seven dragons of darkness." Blaze explained.

All of the dragons were shocked by what he said. "Wait so now you believe what we were telling you about them?" Spyro asked angrily. He was about ready to tackle the dragon then and there.

"I have information from a reliable source." Blaze clarified.

Without even having to consider who she was accusing Azshea looked to her mother with a heated stare. "Ashe! What the hell are you thinking?"

"I don't know what you mean." Ashe said looking to her daughter in surprise.

"Oh stop lying I know it was you! Who else in this world would accuse her own daughter of being evil and condemning the saviors of the planet as well!" The red dragoness yelled.

At the words Ashe lost the last of her calm demeanor. The red dragoness stalked over to her daughter, her eyes ablaze. Azshea had never seen her mother so furious and wouldn't have been surprised if the dragoness had killed her right there. "You have ruined my plans for the last time. Come with me!" The dragoness hissed quietly. She was not yelling but Azshea knew that she was angrier than ever. Azshea was petrified. Ashe picked up her daughter in her mouth, like a baby, and carried her from the room.

Spyro, Cynder, and Aegis could only watch. Whatever happened it was between a mother and daughter. While they truly wanted to help their friend they found that they could not interfere with the family affair. The dragons turned back to the fire guardian ready to continue what had already been started.

"So you think that we're all evil?" Spyro asked in a mocking tone.

"I have reason to believe so." Blaze countered ignoring the sarcasm.

"What proof do you have?" Cynder asked.

"I have little need of proof; your past tells me all that I need to know." Blaze explained.

"What do you mean?" Aegis asked. He knew Cynder's past but that told him nothing of why Blaze was doing this.

"I mean that Cynder has a history of being corrupted."

"So what? We solved that problem she helped me defeat Malefor." Spyro reminded.

"I have no doubt about her feats. It is my concern that the corruption still runs through her body. At any moment it could resurface and put us all in danger." Blaze explained.

In theory the point made sense to Spyro but he knew Cynder too well to think it would happen. "You're crazy!" Spyro yelled.

"If I am correct what I have said has already happened, and right now she has converted you to her side without you even knowing it."

"Are you stupid? Is that what Ashe told you?" Spyro asked.

"As a matter of fact it is." Blaze said.

"Is there any proof? Nothing has happened; Cynder hasn't ever stirred any trouble in the city." Spyro said.

"I...It doesn't matter." Blaze said nervously. He was beginning to think that Ashe had been wrong.

"Do you hear yourself speak right now? You're stuttering, you don't even believe it yourself." Aegis said backing up his friend.

"Why do you have Terrodar and the others here? Did Ashe tell you that they would take your guardian title away?" Spyro asked. When Blaze didn't respond he looked at him and almost laughed. "Are you serious? How naïve are you?"

"Look, I stand by what I said. Even if Ashe lied about some of what she said her point about Cynder makes sense. I am having a notice put out that Cynder is to be watched when she is in Warfang. Who knows if she'll go back to her old ways, but if she does we will catch her and she will be punished accordingly."

"What? Don't you get it?" Spyro asked astounded by what Blaze had said. "Ashe told you that so that she could get her daughter. Why do you think she just took Azshea and left? She doesn't care about Cynder; she was just using you to get to Azshea." Spyro said.

"I don't care!" The dragon roared making Spyro and Aegis shut their mouths. "The dragoness is to be watched. Now all of you leave now before I change my mind."

Spyro growled at the dragon, but a gentle paw stopped him. He looked to Cynder who was shaking her head sadly. The dragoness turned and walked for the exit and after giving one last glare at the guardian Spyro too turned with everyone else in tow.

"Put me down!" Azshea yelled as she hung loosely from her mother's mouth. The dragoness had flown to a more remote part of the city and the two were now alone in a small alley. Suddenly, Ashe opened her teeth and Azshea fell down. Luckily, the dragoness beat her wings once and landed lightly on the ground. She turned back to her mother with angry eyes. "What were you thinking?" She yelled still furious.

"Azshea settle down." Ashe said, her quiet and calm voice doing a good job of silencing her daughter. "I took you away from them for another reason. I want you to make a decision."

"What are you talking about?" Azshea asked suddenly intrigued. Her mother very rarely gave her a choice in the matter of anything.

"Azshea I am not who I seem to be." The dragoness stated. "I will not avoid this in any way. I am one of the seven dragons of darkness."

A long moment of silence passed between the dragoness'. "What?" The Azshea asked her voice hardly audible.

"It is true I am one of them." Ashe said casually.

"No, this can't be happening. You're my mother; you can't be one of them!" The dragoness screamed. The young dragoness paced anxiously unsure of what to do. It seemed as if the world around her was unraveling. "Why? Why would you do it?" She asked finally tears in her eyes.

"Those are my reasons to know." Ashe said. "Azshea this is not why I brought you out here. I have a question to ask you." The dragoness gave a deep sigh. "Will you join us?" She asked.

"Are you serious?" Azshea asked.

"I think that if you came with me I could make everything clear to you." Ashe explained her voice still calm. Azshea was silent she didn't know what to say. Her mother had been more cruel than anyone else she had known. One the other hand, despite her methods she always had the answers.

"What do you say, Azshea?"


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: another long update, sorry everyone, I swear if this writer's block doesn't go away something bad is going to happen. One another note, to the people who reviewed the last chapter at least, you all assumed a lot of things, some of which was right and some was wrong, but don't worry I'll explain it all eventually. So anyway enjoy this chapter, and hopefully it turned out okay.**

Azshea stared at her mother with wide eyes. The dragoness didn't know what to say. The whole situation had shocked her so much she felt like she would pass out.

"Your answer, daughter?" Ashe asked becoming more insistent, as she waited for Azshea to answer.

"I..I I don't know." The dragoness said as she broke down. The sudden revelation that Ashe was one of the seven, combined with her mother asking her to join what she was fighting was too much for the dragoness. Azshea lay down shaking her head and sniffling.

"What's wrong?" Ashe asked, keeping a calm tone which still surprised the dragoness. Azshea just shook her head unsure of what to say or do. She could just fly away and forget about what her mother had said, but could she really just forsake her own mother that way? The only other option would be to accept, but could she betray her friends, and her race for that matter. All of the thoughts swirled in her mind as her mother awaited her answer.

Azshea was far from sorting any of them when her mother asked again. "Are you willing to join us or not?" Her voice was growing more irritated with every word.

After a moment Azshea gave a shrill cry at the futility of the situation. "I don't know!" She screamed losing all focus on the situation. Ashe twitched slightly at the outburst, but made no further move. The adult dragoness watched as her daughter turned from her and leaped into the air, tears in her eyes.

Ashe gave a great sigh as she watched her go. She knew what had to be done.

Spyro walked alongside Cynder down the large path that cut between the city buildings. The two dragons hadn't spoken much since they had encountered Blaze two days before. The confrontation with the fire guardian linked with the information that Dante had given them, still had the two dragons reeling.

That morning Spyro had actually awoken before Cynder. Almost immediately the purple dragon knew something was wrong, for he usually awoke to Cynder's deep turquoise eyes staring at him playfully. After Spyro had woken her up the usually vibrant dragoness had been quite the opposite. Cynder had been reluctant to say anything all morning, confirming Spyro's suspicion that something was wrong.

After a quick breakfast Spyro asked the dragoness if she wanted to take a walk. She had only given a sigh as Spyro practically forced her out the door. Luckily, for the purple dragon Aegis had taken the hint and stayed behind, giving the excuse that he wanted to wait for Azshea who had not yet returned from when her mother had carried her off two days before. To be honest Spyro was worried about her too, but he tried not to worry about it figuring that at least she was in good hands. Even if her mother was unorthodox at least she was her mother.

The two dragons walked through the city streets. No words passed between them as Spyro looked for some sort of way to start a conversation. Nothing came to him though and his focus turned to the other dragons that were milling down the street beside him. At first Spyro paid them no real heed, other than moving out of the way to let them pass.

It took a small dragon to open Spyro's eyes. As Spyro and Cynder strolled through the street a small ice dragon, who was weaving between the legs of the larger dragons, tripped and tumbled across the stone path. His body came to a stop right in front of Spyro and Cynder. The youngling shook his head of the dizziness and stood up shakily. Noticing that he was blocking someone's path the dragon turned to give an apology. When he faced Spyro and Cynder he opened his mouth to speak, but the words were stuck in his mouth when his eyes turned on Cynder. Instead of speaking the small dragon took a few steps back before scrambling away from them, and disappearing amongst the other dragons.

Spyro's eyes shot from the small dragon to Cynder. The dragoness gave a small sigh before continuing to walk forward. Spyro who had stopped for a moment to think dashed to catch up with Cynder. "Come with me." He said, before spreading his wings and launching into the air, bringing more than a few astounded gasps from the surrounding dragons.

Cynder looked at him curiously but followed him just the same. Spyro didn't lead them far. The purple dragon glided across several rooftops. He went slowly as to not further arouse any suspicion or get anyone else's attention. The dragon touched down in a secluded back alley, and turned to wait for Cynder.

The black dragoness had been flying lazily and it took her a moment to catch up to Spyro. She already knew what he was going to tell her, but she really didn't care, she was in too bleak of a mood to be cheered up.

As the dragoness landed Spyro began to talk. "Cynder, I know what is going through your mind right now." The purple dragon began to say.

"How could you?" Cynder countered. She could hear the coldness in her own voice but she didn't care.

"Cynder you do realize that you are thinking irrationally, right?" The purple dragon asked tentatively, as he noted the tone of her voice and realized that he was treading on dangerous ground.

"No, I'm not, Spyro." The dragoness said heatedly. "I'm completely in my right mind; it's the people who have lost it!"

"Cynder, it's just an assumption. I'm sorry that Blaze put out a proclamation to keep an eye on you, but it's too late now."

"Why would you care?" The dragoness yelled. "It's not like Blaze told everyone you were evil!"

"Actually, he kind of did, I'm just not sure people believed it." Spyro said halfheartedly.

"I don't care; they don't think that you are suddenly going to turn against them!" Cynder paused and lowered her head slightly. "But, with me…it's a different story." She mumbled.

"Cynder don't let them make you out to be something you're not." Spyro said as he moved a little closer to the dragoness.

"Spyro you don't know what it's like to have everyone fearing for their lives when you are around, they all think I'm going to kill them." Cynder said looking up at Spyro, her eyes beginning to shimmer with moisture.

"Cynder," The dragon paused and maneuvered his wing around her to pull the black dragoness close to his side. "Cynder, just because they think that doesn't make it true." The dragoness wanted to argue but couldn't find words. "Besides, I know that you are a good dragoness at heart." Spyro said giving her a small nuzzle. The dragoness, despite her mood, gave a small coo enjoying the loving contact.

"I know that you know, and I guess Aegis and Azshea do too, even Sparx."

"I didn't even consider them, but I bet they do, see lots of people care for you." Spyro said. "Isn't that enough?"

"Yeah but, what about all of them?" Cynder asked. "What about everyone else on this planet? Just a few days ago they all thought I was a heroine who helped save the planet." The dragoness gave a deep sigh of sorrow before lying down on the ground. She put her head on her front paw and stared blankly into the distance. Spyro shook his head, seeing that he wasn't really getting through to her, and he lay down close to her.

"Cynder, don't let their view of you change how you see yourself. You did do all those good things, and everyone knows that. They're just…" The dragon trailed off knowing that his sentence would do no good.

"What Spyro? They're just scared? Is that it? It's been years since I helped the dark master! How can they not change their opinion of me by now?" The dragoness asked desperately.

The purple dragon was silent; he had no real answer for her. He knew that Cynder was a good dragoness, but he had no idea of how to prove it to the doubting community all around them. Spyro's temper suddenly flared as Blaze came into his mind. The fire dragon had started all of this. They sat there in silence for a long time with Cynder unmoving, and Spyro quietly seething at the thought of the fire guardian.

"Spyro?" Cynder asked for the second time, and only just now catching Spyro's attention. The purple dragon lowered his own head so that he was even closer to Cynder.

"What is it?" He asked quietly.

"What…what should I do?" The dragoness stuttered, and it was then that Spyro realized that she had been crying while he had been lost in thought.

"Cynder, first off I want you to know that it doesn't matter what they think." The purple dragon said.

"But-  
"No Cynder, no buts, you have to know that it doesn't matter what they think." The dragoness was silent allowing Spyro to continue. "Look, Cynder the only way you can make this end is by changing their opinion of you. Prove to them that they were wrong." Spyro explained.

"You really think that would work?" Cynder asked wiping a tear from her eyes.

"I know it would work." Spyro said leaning down and giving her a light kiss. "Don't you trust me?"

Cynder gave a small nod. "Yes, I trust you." She said quietly as she tried to compose herself. "Thank you Spyro."

"It's what I'm here for." The dragon said keeping his eyes on her.

The purple dragon sat there for a few more minutes allowing the dragoness to pull herself together. After a moment Cynder gave him a nod, and stood back up. Spyro followed her lead removing his wing so that she could stand fully upright. The dragoness gave a small crooked smile, "Where should we go?" She asked.

"For now I would say back to the ex-guardian's home. They might be worried about us."

"Yeah, I wonder if Azshea ever came back." Cynder said. Her own problems seemed to suddenly shrink as she remembered her friend. "Let's go." Spyro nodded and the two dragon leapt into the air leaving the small alley far behind.

As Cynder flew along she could hear the yelps and gasps of dragons below. They were obviously looking at her. The thought that the mere sight of her made them scream sent her reeling. A sudden rush of emotion hit the dragoness, and her eyes began to water. As the dragoness blinked back tears she remembered what Spyro had told her. The dragoness tried to focus on the kind words he had said. Despite her efforts though, she could not keep her mind off of the dragons below them.

As the two dragons flew along Cynder sped ahead eager to get back home and away from the dragons whose gasps tortured her mind. Spyro watched her curiously, but didn't say anything. He could hear the other dragons below them, and knew that it was affecting her. Spyro shook his head and beat his own wings even more to catch up to her. He suddenly wanted to drop down into the streets and scold all of them for what they were doing. The dragon held back though as he knew that it would accomplish nothing.

The two dragons landed on the balcony of the ex-guardians house. Cynder walked inside quickly with Spyro close behind. The two dragons entered their room to find Aegis and Sparx sitting on separate pillows, waiting to see if Azshea would turn up.

"Hey you two, how did your walk go?" Sparx asked as he saw Cynder quickly cross the room and lay down, leaving Spyro standing at the window rather awkwardly.

Spyro shrugged and moved to sit on a pillow that was close to Cynder. He avoided sitting right next to her because of the mood she was in. It seemed to Spyro that she needed some space at the moment. As the purple dragon lay down he felt Sparx's inquisitive eyes upon him, but he paid him no heed.

"Any sign of Azshea yet?" He asked ignoring the previous question and changing the topic.

"No, she still hasn't come back." Aegis said shaking his head sadly.

"Do you want to go look for her?" Spyro asked, seeing his friend's distress. Aegis nodded eagerly in response.

"What's with you all of a sudden, since when were you so worried about her?" Sparx asked poking the dragon's muzzle, a wide smile on his face.

Aegis' cheeks flushed slightly at the comment, but he managed to retain most of his composure. "I'm just worried about her, you've seen her mother. She attacked us for no reason and we know that she attacked Azshea." The yellow dragon retorted trying to ignore the dragonfly's comment.

Cynder even perked up at that thought. None of the dragons had really considered Azshea to be in danger around her mother.

"Maybe we should search for her." Spyro said looking to the others with some concern.

"I'm up for it." Aegis replied a little too quickly. The golden dragon sprang to his feet drawing inquiring looks from the others. Luckily for him all the others just passed off the action as nothing more than friendly concern.

"Cynder how about you?" Spyro asked the dragoness as he too stood up from his resting place.

The black dragoness looked to him with tired eyes, but no answer came forth.

"How about you wait here incase Azshea comes back." Spyro said as he walked over to her. The dragoness gave no verbal response but instead sat quietly watching the purple dragon. After what seemed like forever the dragoness gave a small nod. Spyro hid a frown as he moved in and bumped her lightly on the nose. The dragoness gave a little smile, although Spyro knew that it was a fake. "We'll be back soon." He said as he turned to follow Aegis out onto the balcony. As they moved out of Cynder's line of sight Spyro turned to Sparx who was floating lazily by him.

"Sparx I want you to stay here with Cynder." Spyro whispered hoping that the dragoness wouldn't hear him.

"What? Why?" The dragonfly asked in dismay confused by the sudden task.

"If you haven't noticed she's a bit upset, right now." Spyro said. "I want you to keep her company."

"What's wrong with her?" Sparx asked leaning in close. Aegis too leaned back hoping to figure out what had caused the dragoness' normally cheerful mood to disappear.

"If you want to find out I suggest that you stay." Spyro said putting emphasis on each word.

The dragonfly sighed. "Why do I always get stuck with choices? Stay or go? I don't know what to…" The dragonfly trailed off his grumbles becoming inaudible as he reentered the room.

As the two dragons turned to leave they heard an overexcited Sparx from inside, "Hey Cynder, I've decided to stay here with you, and we are going to have a grand time!" Aegis looked at Spyro with a raised brow and Spyro could only shake his head before taking off.

Azshea hobbled through the ruined part of Warfang. The fire dragoness had been wandering through the abandoned portion of Warfang for two days now. She had only left the relative safety of the city to hunt, which she had only done the day before. The dragoness wandered aimlessly, she felt her hunger and fatigue, but refused to act on the needs. She had to figure out why her mother had done what she had. She needed answers but had no idea how to get them.

The dragoness continued to stumble through the deeper parts of the ruins; she couldn't hear the city dwellers anymore. The dragoness watched the ground in front of her, being too weak to lift her own head. A shadow passed over her, but she gave it no heed. Only a few moments later she bumped into something hard. The dragoness stumbled and fell down. She slowly lifted her head to look at what she had hit. When her eyes turned upwards to see what had caused her to fall she gasped in surprise. Standing before her was her friend from Syrinal, Erutos. The green dragon looked down at her with a combination of surprise and worry.

"Erutos?" Azshea asked weakly, unsure if she was seeing correctly. Her vision had blurred slightly from the lack of food and sleep.

"Yeah." The dragon said nodding his head as he helped the dragoness to her feet.

"W-what are you doing here?" Azshea asked as she was practically pulled to her feet by the dragon.

"I came to Warfang to see the guardians. Ashe hasn't sent any word back as to what's going on." Erutos explained. He watched Azshea as she wobbled in front of him. The fire dragoness suddenly lurched forward falling onto his shoulder. The earth dragon stood very still as the dragoness didn't move. He was surprised at first but soon realized that she had fallen forward out of fatigue and not emotion.

"Azshea, how long has it been since you ate, or slept for that matter?" He asked. When he got no response he continued. "Alright come with me, I'm going to get you fixed up." He said with a gentle smile. The earth dragon then supported the fire dragoness and helped her to walk down a ruble strewn path towards the outskirts of the city.

As they walked along Azshea spoke. "Where are we going?" She asked curious as to why they were leaving the city.

"We are going to find some food so you can eat." The earth dragon said. There was another long pause between the two as they moved out of the city. Azshea watched the scenery slowly move by her, and noted that it was slowly changing to trees and plants instead of buildings. She also felt soft grass on her paws instead of rough stone.

"Erutos."

"Hmm?" The dragon asked turning to face the dragoness who was still using his side for support.

"Thank you." She said and she buried her head deeper into his side, as if he was a soft pillow.

Erutos didn't respond. The dragon bit his lip nervously as they moved into the forest.

After a long while the two dragons reached a relatively open area among the large trees.

"You wait here while I find us some food." The green dragon said as he lowered the weak dragoness to the ground. Azshea nodded as she spread herself out on the soft green grass. The dragoness yawned as she slowly drifted into a light sleep. The last thing she saw was Erutos walking off into the forest. As she closed her eyes the dragoness breathed a sigh of relief as she felt a sense of safety wash over her. Erutos was one of her most trusted friends, who she had known ever since he had come to Syrinal.

"Wake up." She heard a voice say. Azshea grumbled but didn't open her eyes.

"Wake up, Azshea." The voice said again gently. Azshea kept her eyes closed but a smile grew on her face. She moved her paw out, and pushed the dragon away playfully.

There was a small laughing sound that slowly died away. The sound sent chills down the dragoness spine, and her eyes snapped open. Standing in front of her was Astir, smiling evilly. "I wouldn't push me like that again unless you want your life to end." The dragon said darkly.

Azshea snapped to her feet. She still felt woozy from the sleep and the fatigue, but she felt that she could take on the dragon in a fight. As she got her paws under her, the dragoness launched herself forward, and right into Astir's chest, the two dragons grappled for only a few seconds before Astir kicked the dragoness off of his body.

Azshea snapped out her wings to catch the air so that she slowed down and landed on her feet.

"Your mother asked you nicely to join us and you refused." Astir explained as he faced the dragoness.

"And you wouldn't take no for an answer I guess." Azshea said irritated.

"You guessed it, we let her ask nicely, but since that failed we are going to take you forcefully."

"We?" Azshea asked. As if on cue there was a massive crash on the ground behind her. "Oh no." Azshea said as rolled out of the way as Reave slammed his tail into the ground where she had just been.

"That's right you're coming with us." Astir said. "Go ahead and fight if you want but I don't think you'll get very far."

Azshea growled in response and lunged towards the smaller black dragon. Astir sidestepped the attack, and slapped the dragoness across the face. With the momentum of her leap the dragoness took the slap and rolled across the ground away from Astir. Azshea shook the stars from her vision as she raised herself up slowly. Standing right in front of her was Erutos.

The dragoness' jaw dropped as she looked for words to ask a question. Erutos only gave her a wicked grin, and smashed her in the chest with his horns. The dragoness flipped backwards in a roll but still managed to come up on her paws.

"Erutos?" She asked on the verge of a breakdown.

"Sorry Azshea but surely you knew this was coming." The earth dragon said shrugging his shoulders.

"You were my best friend! What happened to you?" The dragoness screamed in futility.

"I was always like this. When you met me I had my orders. Wait and gather information. That's why I never revealed my identity." Erutos explained.

"No, no." The dragoness said shaking her head as she backed away from the dragon. "This isn't happening!" She screamed, the shriek sending chills through the earth dragon's body. Without stopping to think Azshea let loose a wave of fire that engulfed the whole area in front of her. As she ended the wave of fire the fire dragoness saw another tail snapping towards her. The dragoness jumped into the air, and turned to face her mother. Without any words, for the dragoness was far past them, Azshea breathed another cone of fire at her mother who stood her ground. The fire whipped around the adult wildly, but it never burnt her.

"Settle down and just give up." Another voice, this one female, yelled. Solris said walking towards the out of control dragoness. "Please just accept your fate." Solris didn't want to see the dragoness hurt. The black dragoness could tell that Azshea was in more pain than she had ever known.

Azshea snorted fire. "Don't tell me to settle down! Don't tell me to accept fate! You're trying to turn me into one of you!" She yelled angrily. The words stung Solris, the classification of her existence as an evil entity tore her up inside. Suddenly, the fire dragoness leapt into the air and opened her wings to fly away. Solris acted quicker though and whisked up a gust of wind sending the fire dragoness tumbling to the ground.

Azshea was unfazed by the sudden drop, since she had been half expecting it, and after she regained her footing another torrent of white hot fire spiraled towards Solris. The black dragoness leapt parallel to the ground, and skimmed over the grass to land safely out of range of the fire. The onyx dragoness faced Azshea, and flapped her wings back and forth effectively creating a strong current of wind. The wind blew out and over Azshea. Once Azshea was engulfed in the breeze Solris began to control the wind creating a circle around the fire dragoness. Azshea suddenly saw the flames in front of her shrink and then go out.

The fire dragoness tried to summon the fire again but found herself coughing and sputtering instead. Within seconds she could not breathe. The dragoness gagged as she tried to force oxygen into her lungs, but she found none to breathe in. Solris was effectively cycling the air out of the small area where she was standing. Azshea slowly walked forward hoping to get out of the suffocating tornado. Within a few short seconds though, she fell on the ground unable to breath in any air and therefore unable to move her limbs any longer. Azshea felt the wind die away as she blacked out.

**A/N: Wow I barely made my quota of 4,000 words. Well anyway hope you enjoyed it I'll try and update soon.**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Alright sorry for another long update but hopefully this one will keep you guys entertained since its longer than normal. I have exams this week so I don't know when I'll update next but hopefully it's soon. Also I just want to say sorry in advance because I have a feeling that there are lots of spelling errors in here even after editing, so yeah sorry.**

Her vision came slowly at first. Azshea lay on the soft green grass underneath the large trees that made up the forest outside of Warfang. The red dragoness groaned as the pain and exhaustion from earlier hit her like a wall. The dragoness' eyes were slits, and as she looked around she could hardly see what was walking towards her.

The dragoness curled herself inward a moment later as she felt something sharp hit her chest. The dragoness eyes snapped open, and the dim light burned her eyes. As a few tears welled up in her eyes Azshea felt her stomach. The attack had been more startling than painful. There were only three small scrapes running down her chest, the mark of a dragon's claws.

Azshea forced herself to turn her head where she saw Astir standing above her. The dragon had a smile on his face as if he was happy to see her. Azshea growled, but that did little to deter him.

"Glad to see that you're finally awake. I thought you would miss your own ceremony." The dark dragon said.

"What are you talking about?" Azshea asked trying her best to hide the grogginess that was still plaguing her.

"You don't remember?" Astir asked looking almost sad. "You're joining us remember. We're changing you into one of us, and might I say, I think you'll look good in black." The dragon said almost laughing.

Reality hit Azshea hard as she remembered what had happened. She growled again this time much louder, as she leapt towards the dragon. Astir took one step back his smile never fading. Suddenly, Azshea stopped in mid-pounce, and fell onto the ground with a sharp thud. The dragoness shook her head as Astir laughed at her. It was then that the dragoness noticed that she had been bound. Thick iron chains had been put around her neck and front paws keeping her held to the spot, the chain around her neck being especially tight to keep her from using her fire breath. The dragoness coughed as the chain cut into her neck.

"Let me go!" The dragoness yelled, tugging and biting at the chains.

"Give me one good reason to do that." Astir said cocking his head to the side.

Azshea was silent as she tugged on the chains more and more. As hard as she tried she could not break them. The dragoness fell back to the ground with a resigned sigh. All the sudden action had tired her out.

"Yeah, I thought so." Astir said, and Azshea glared at him in response. "Well, I am sorry to say that I won't be here to see you change. I actually have a very important task."

"What task would that be?" Azshea asked, figuring that if she couldn't escape she should find out as much as she could.

"Sorry, I can't tell you, not yet at least. When I get back I'll explain it all to you, since you'll be on our side by then. For now though I bid you farewell." Astir said as he turned around and walked away. After a moment though the dragon stopped, and twisted back around. Astir walked back up to Azshea, moving his head right next to hers so that he could whisper to her.

"By the way I promise that the transformation hurts, a lot." The dragon taunted. He moved his head back so that he could stare into Azshea's eyes. He noted the fear that the dragoness was trying to hide, and he gave a small chuckle. Azshea hissed at him and snapped her right claw forward. There was a sudden rattle of chains as the iron stopped her paw from connecting with Astir's face.

The black dragon didn't twitch, he just slowly moved his over to stare at her paw. He slowly pushed the dragoness' paw away. "Feisty, that will come in handy, but you forgot one thing." Astir brought his own paw forward slapping the dragoness across the face. The blow sent her reeling, and the dragoness landed on her side, stunned. "I'm your leader."

Without giving her a chance to respond Astir turned away. Azshea only then noticed that other dragons where standing there as well, her mother among them. They had all watched the scene and a few of them were laughing at the dragoness.

"Alright, Ashe you stay here with your daughter, I would imagine that you would want to witness this." Astir said, drawing a nod and a bow from Ashe. "Solris you too, because frankly I just don't like you."

Solris almost spoke but held her tongue. Astir was basically in control of her entire being as long as he wore that locket around his neck. The dragoness clearly recalled her encounter with him in the cave where Astir had brought her back from the dead. The dragon could control her and see and hear everything she did. With these thoughts in mind the dragoness gave a nod.

"Erutos you follow the scouts into the city and give them some back up they need to distract the guards enough to give the main army an advantage, when you think that you have distracted them long enough come back here." Astir instructed.

Azshea stifled a gasp as she heard her former friend's name. The dragoness had hoped that it had all been a misunderstanding, and that Erutos had not truly been a part of the seven. That hope died when she saw the green dragon standing there alongside the other dragons of darkness. Dante's words struck her again, the reminder that a few of the seven had been left with their natural image in order to disguise themselves.

The dragoness then turned her attention towards her mother. Dante had said that he had only trained six dragons. Ashe must have been the one he had never seen. Obviously, Ashe was not raised with the other six dragons since she was older than them. Not to mention that while they were being trained Ashe was with Azshea being her mother.

As Azshea pieced the puzzle together Astir continued issuing instructions. "Everyone else come with me you know what your mission is."

The dragons scattered in all directions. Suddenly, the forest seemed to come alive as Azshea heard hoots, and howls, and a variety of other noises, soon after she noted the movement all around them. It was then that she realized that these seven dragons had gathered a descent sized ape army. Azshea's head whirled as she tried to fit all of the pieces together.

Spyro and Aegis glided over Warfang only beating their leathery wings occasionally, in order to keep aloft. Both dragons had their vision focused on the streets below, their eyes peeled for some sort of sign of their friend, Azshea. Besides her they were also on the lookout for Ashe. The larger red dragoness had been seen with Azshea last so she might have some information on where her daughter was, although both Spyro and Aegis doubted that they would be able to procure any information from her if they found her.

The two dragons flew along silently, each focused on their task. Spyro actually felt somewhat awkward around the golden dragon that flew beside him. The purple dragon stole a quick glance at his new friend. His scales were shimmering in the late afternoon sun, his sunburst wings further increasing his luminescence. It seemed to Spyro that the lightning dragon was another sun, and the dragon narrowed his eyes just to keep out the excessive light. He had never remembered Aegis being this bright before.

A sudden flare in the light caught the dragon's attention. It moved so quickly that the purple drake could hardly follow it. A moment later Spyro felt a jolt run through his body. The electricity simply making the dragon's body go stiff, immediately after Spyro simply fell from the sky, the charge in his body temporarily paralyzing him.

As Spyro tumbled downwards Aegis noticed, and gave a gasp before diving after him. Spyro continued to fall unable to even give a roar of protest as his entire body was locked up. Aegis sped up his dive until he caught up. The golden scaled dragon had already surmised that he had accidently shocked his friend. He could tell by the fact that Spyro wasn't moving.

When Aegis was close enough he slapped a paw down onto the purple dragon's hide. As his paw touched down Aegis could feel the extra energy inside Spyro's body. The dragon took no time in siphoning it out. He felt most of his body go numb as the lightning slowly discharged under his own skin, but he paid it no heed as he pulled out of the dive and landed on a nearby rooftop.

Before he had even landed he heard a roar from behind him, and heard the rush of wind as Spyro too pulled himself up, turning his downward momentum into an ark that shot him back into the sky. The purple dragon quickly spotted Aegis on a nearby rooftop and landed beside him, this time keeping back a little bit so that he felt safer.

"Aegis what the hell was that?" The dragon asked in a more curious than angry voice. The purple dragon already knew that whatever had happened it was most likely not on purpose.

"I…I don't know I didn't try to shock you, I wasn't even summoning the energy, it just happened somehow." The golden said suddenly dismayed.

"Maybe it had something to do with that glow." Spyro said more to himself than Aegis.

"Glow? What glow?" Aegis asked. The dragon instinctively looked at his body, even going so far as to bend his neck backwards to see his back.

"You were glowing before I got shocked." Spyro clarified as he watched the dragon inspect himself.

"I was glowing? Why was I glowing?" Aegis asked.

"I don't know it's not my body." Spyro replied. "Maybe you're just on edge."

Aegis looked at his purple friend with a questioning stare. "Why would I be on edge?" Aegis asked, as though the premise itself was idiotic.

Spyro sighed. "I don't know Aegis, because in all honesty I know pretty much nothing about how you feel about anything." Aegis didn't comment. The dragon knew that he had not said much about himself, but until now he didn't think he really had to. "Maybe it's the fact that a group of Malefor's successors are trying to kill you. Maybe it's the loss of your brother…" The purple dragon trailed off hoping for some sort of reaction to that statement but he got none. Aegis only stared at the rooftop, on which they stood, silently recalling his brother. After a moment Spyro continued. "Or maybe," The dragon paused for a moment, and Aegis looked up at him. A hint of a smile grew on Spyro's face as he continued. "Or maybe it's something else."

"Something else?" Aegis repeated questioningly.

Spyro nodded. "I haven't known you for very long but I do know that the seven don't exactly scare you." Aegis eyed him suspiciously wondering where this was going. "I bet you would take on all of them at once if you got the chance." Spyro looked to Aegis who silently confirmed the theory. "So it can't be that. Your brother, well maybe, but I think that is something that is constantly tearing at you, and wouldn't just set you off."

Aegis gnashed his teeth together at the accurate depiction of his feelings. In truth the thought of Reave did tear him up every day. The dark dragon had been a constant thought in Aegis' mind. He had never known that Spyro could read someone so well, especially with the limited information that he had. It did occur to Aegis that Spyro could just be guessing at his feelings, but he seemed to accurate to be a fake.

"What do you know about me?" Aegis growled deeply.

The sudden hostility made Spyro stop and scan Aegis for a long time. The purple dragon knew that he had hit a nerve, which had not been the intention of his little questions.

"Should I continue?" He asked after a long moment. Aegis stared at him for a while before nodding slowly wanting to know what the purple dragon thought. Although he wanted to know he turned on paw so that he was not facing the purple dragon.

That action alone made Spyro second guess his decision to continue, but he went anyway, knowing that if things went too far Aegis would stop him. "Like I was saying, if it's not your brother, and not the seven in general, then that leaves only one thing left that I can think of." Spyro stopped to examine the dragon again and noticed that his muscles had stiffened. The dragon's eyes moved to the back of Aegis' head. "Azshea." He said bluntly.

After a few seconds Aegis turned back around his face as hard as stone. Spyro felt a wave of fear run through his body as he looked into the lightning dragon's eyes; maybe he had gone too far.

"What are you saying, Spyro?" The yellow dragon asked in a calm tone.

Spyro gulped as the words were stuck in his throat. Aegis looked at him peculiarly. "Go on Spyro." He said again.

"You, obviously care for Azshea…but…." The dragon trailed off hoping that Aegis would just pick up what he was getting at.

"You think I like her as more than a friend, and that those feelings are making me edgy." Aegis clarified, and Spyro gave a great sigh as he nodded his head, happy that he didn't have to finish his sentence.

"No, I don't." Aegis said a second later. The response caught the purple dragon off guard, but he didn't make any sort of movement.

"How can you say that?" Spyro asked.

"What do you mean? What proof do you have that I would consider her for a mate?" Aegis asked. When the word mate was said Spyro felt the blood rush to his face. He had always felt squeamish around the term. Aegis on the other hand still had a completely calm face.

"Um, I don't know I guess I just thought that…" Spyro trailed off, his theories suddenly falling apart around him.

"Nothing then?" Aegis asked as he saw his plan doing what it was intended to.

"Well, what about that shock just now, I mean wasn't that because you were worried about her? Not to mention that back in our room you really wanted to look for her." Spyro said thinking on the spot.

Aegis cocked his head and looked at him as if he were stupid. "That's why you think I like her?" Spyro nodded sheepishly, and Aegis laughed a little before resuming his stern posture. "You know I would have thought that the purple dragon would have been a bit smarter than this." Aegis said half jokingly. Spyro took the insult with stoicism, and let the golden dragon continue. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I care for her as a good friend would. I mean her mother, who we really can't trust, just whisked her off a few days ago. We haven't heard from her since, and the Ancestors only know where she is. It is caring that I am showing and not love." Aegis said flatly.

"But, but all the…but you…okay you got me." Spyro said finally hanging his head. Aegis let grinned as and turned around again preparing to take off. Just before his paws left the rooftop he heard Spyro add. "Maybe you should consider it Aegis, you might be surprised." Aegis felt the grin on his face dissipate as he pondered the thought. Aegis pushed the thought from his mind knowing that he had much more important things to worry about right now.

"Apes at the wall!"

The two dragons turned to where the voice had come from. Aegis suddenly saw a purple form flash past him and he sped off a second later. The two dragons cut through the still air towards the voice. As they neared the spot they heard roars, hoots, growls, and metal clashing together.

The two dragons finally found the source of the fighting and dropped from the sky. Near a massive gate into the city was a large plaza. In that plaza were at least a dozen dragons fighting with a rather large group of apes that was still pouring in from the nearby gate. Spyro closed his wings, and gained speed before landing on one unfortunate ape's back. The beast gave a grunt as its body caved under the pressure of the purple dragon, who wasted no time in clawing into his back. Aegis took an easier approach, and landed lightly stirring the dust beneath him. After a picking his target the dragon shot a crackling bolt of lightning ahead and straight into an unfortunate ape, who fell to the ground convulsing.

Aegis who had landed near to Spyro ran over to join him. The two put their backs to each other as more than a few apes circled them, most of them pointing and hooting at Spyro.

"Looks like they remember you." Aegis said.

"I did kill like half of them when the dark master was in power." Spyro replied.

"You're so modest." Aegis laughed.

"I try." Spyro said before leaping forward, he was tired of waiting for the apes to come to him.

Sparx hovered around the room with an air of anxiousness about him. Cynder on the other hand lay on her pillow, the only movement being her eyes, which were following the uneasy dragonfly. Sparx was thinking, and Cynder knew it. The dragoness could guess that Spyro had told him to stay with her. In a way she felt happy that Spyro had cared enough to have someone keep her company but she also felt like a child at having to be watched over.

Sparx hovered around the room occasionally taking quick glances at Cynder. The dragoness made no physical gesture to indicate that she had seen him, but Sparx knew that her eyes were following him. The dragonfly ran over Spyro's words again in his mind. His brother had told him to stay here but had given no real reason to do so. He had only said that Cynder wasn't feeling her best and that if he wanted to find out why he should ask her.

The dragonfly took a deep breath, hoping that after he spoke Cynder wouldn't lash out at him, for her eyes seemed almost as annoyed as they did forlorn. "So, Cynder how's it going?" The black dragoness just snorted sending a few tufts of black fire into the air in front of her.

"Oh, okay…you can't be that down can you?" The dragonfly pushed trying to at least get a verbal response. He figured that while he was here he should at least try to figure out what was bugging her.

"Who says I'm sad?" The dragoness asked quietly not moving her head from her pillow.

"I don't know maybe its how you've been acting all day." Sparx said as if it was obvious.

"How have I been acting?" Cynder asked again.

"Oh, stop avoiding it; I'm pretty sure that we can all tell something is wrong." Sparx said a little angry that the dragoness was playing off her emotions as if they were nothing.

"Sparx don't try to comprehend what you can't understand." Cynder said hoping to stop the conversation, for she didn't feel like talking about it twice in one day.

Unfortunately for her, Sparx wouldn't stop there. "So now I'm not smart enough to understand your problems?" The dragonfly asked crossing his small arms.

"Have I ever told you otherwise?" Cynder asked with an air of superiority in her voice.

"Alright Cynder what is your problem?" Sparx said angrily his little amount of patience long gone.

"Why should I tell you, it's not like you can fix it." Cynder snorted turning her head away from the dragonfly.

"That's a great attitude you got there." Sparx murmured as he rolled his eyes.

"You really want to know Sparx?" The dragoness yelled suddenly. "Fine, I'll tell you what's wrong! The entire dragon race hates my guts and I can't do a damned thing about it!"

Sparx didn't speak which left a deep silence in the room. Cynder stared at the dragonfly trying her hardest to keep the remainder of her emotions in check. Sparx looked at the dragoness for a hard time scanning her form with much interest.

Suddenly, the dragonfly burst out laughing. Cynder stared at him with narrowed eyes, believing that the dragonfly found her predicament a funny one.

"You find this funny?" Cynder hissed angrily.

Sparx calmed himself down. "Yeah, it is kind of funny." He said.

"I fail to see the humor." Cynder growled as she stood up. The movement making the dragonfly second guess his attitude towards her problem, but he kept it up hoping for his intended outcome.

"I see it I mean come on Cynder its staring you right in the face." Sparx said.

"What do you mean Sparx?" Cynder inquired her anger threatening to reappear at any moment.

"I mean that you have had this problem before." Sparx said, and when he saw her blank face he continued. "For instance that time when you ran away from the temple like three years ago it was because you thought everyone hated you."

"I didn't leave because people hated me I left because I didn't fit in." Cynder retorted, but the argument sounded weak even to her.

"Yeah okay, but you thought you didn't fit in because you figured that we all hated you." Sparx reasoned.

Cynder had nothing to say and when Sparx motioned for her to confirm his theory she only nodded her head slightly. "See Cynder this _has_ happened before, you just didn't realize it."

"How does that help Sparx?" The dragoness asked not understanding the point.

"How does it help?" Sparx looked at her dumbfounded. "I thought you would have figured this out on your own." The dragonfly paused giving her another chance to think over the situation, when she shook her head Sparx gave a sigh and continued. "You do realize that since then we have all become good friends right, and obviously none of us hate you."

"So your saying I should go meet everyone around here and convince them that I'm not that bad of a person?" The dragoness asked.

Sparx laughed at the prospect. "Are you kidding, you would probably die of old age before you befriended everyone in this city." Sparx said, drawing an irritated look from Cynder. "No, you need to go back to what you were doing before."

"So help Spyro?" Cynder asked and Sparx nodded.

"But what about all of the people?" Cynder asked.

"Ignore them; has their opinion of you ever mattered before?" Sparx asked.

"No, but that was different." Cynder retorted.

Sparx sighed. "Fine Cynder you can do what you want, but you can't spend your whole life in this room because you are worried about what someone thinks of you."

A sudden silence fell over the room and neither made a move to end it. Cynder suddenly became interested in her paws as she thought over what the dragonfly had told her. In essence it was the same thing that Spyro had said to her. The dragoness wanted to act accordingly to what they had said, and just not worry about any of the other dragons that might view her differently, as much as she wanted to though she could not bring herself to go through with it.

"So what's your decision Cynder, are you going to just give up, or are you going to try and fix this?" Sparx asked breaking the silence. He had watched Cynder as she was thinking and could see her inner turmoil.

"But it's not my problem to fix!" Cynder yelled her anger flaring up again. Although she wasn't really angry at Sparx the dragonfly still moved a few inches back out of fear. Sparx saying that she had to fix the problem had set her off. The black dragoness suddenly felt a great surge of anger towards Blaze. The fire guardian had put her in this situation, and she wanted nothing more than to slap him up-side the head for his ignorance.

"Look Cynder," Sparx said dragging the dragoness' mind out of her scathing thoughts, and back into reality. "Cynder I know you're angry and scared, but this is never going to go away unless you do something about it." When the dragonfly saw her forming another argument he cut her off. "Besides you know that we're all here for you."

The black dragoness looked at the golden dragonfly with wide eyes. Sparx noted this and hovered down close to her face. "Hey, come on, I swear things are going to get better. Why don't we both go find Spyro and Aegis, I'm sure they could use our help searching for Azshea."

Although she was far from sure of herself Cynder gave a slight nod, and followed Sparx to the window. "Thanks Sparx, hopefully you're right about this."

"Hopefully? Have a little faith Cynder, come on have I ever been wrong?" The dragonfly asked.

Cynder gave him a little smile before diving off the ledge and opening her wings.

Spyro dashed clamped his jaws down on one apes neck, bring forth a sickening gurgle. The purple dragon bit down until he tasted blood, once he tasted the iron like liquid he spun his neck effortlessly tossing the ape through the air to collide with another. The purple dragon looked around to find Aegis. Soon after the fighting had started Spyro had lost track of the lightning dragon.

Spyro gasped as his eyes suddenly locked on Aegis. He saw the lightning dragon being swarmed by apes. As one came towards him with a brutal looking sword he ducked the weapon and bit down on the ape's wrist, his pointed teeth shattering the thin bones. Aegis tossed the ape to the ground where he writhed in pain. Without looking, Aegis whipped around smacking another ape with his tail. As he completed the rotation there was a crackling sound, and lightning shot forth from his mouth killing yet another ape.

Spyro watched in awe as the dragon defeated more and more apes. No matter how many came his way he seemed to have some way to deal with them. The apes seemed to be getting smarter though, and five of them formed a circle around the dragon. Then they all jumped towards the dragon at the same time. The five hairy bodies covering the golden dragon, Spyro watched in horror as he saw the apes raise and lower their weapons, each time the steel came back into view it was a little bloodier.

Spyro sprinted forward closing the ground between them. He was ready to tear off each of the apes, and rip them to shreds. As the purple dragon neared Aegis he noticed something, all of the apes that were attacking Aegis had suddenly stopped. Spyro ducked as all five of the apes shot off of Aegis. The dragon looked to an ape that had landed relatively near to him, to his surprise he saw that the entire front side of the ape had been singed completely, its fur and armor had been turned a crusty black.

Spyro looked back to Aegis in awe and walked up to him. The lightning dragon stood there panting with numerous cuts on his body. Luckily, none of them were very deep. He gave Spyro a small nod to indicate that he was okay, just out of breath.

"Spyro!" The purple dragon looked up to see Cynder glide in and land next to him.

"Well, it sure didn't take too long to find them." Sparx said.

"Cynder what are you doing here?" Spyro asked genuinely surprised to see her, since when he had left her she seemed as though she wouldn't move all day.

"Sparx and I talked for a bit." Cynder said tossing a small smile the dragonfly's way.

"Oh, and what did Sparx tell you?" Spyro asked.

"He helped me see that I was being very stupid about this whole thing." Cynder said looking to the ground. "I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you before."

"Hey, you have nothing to apologize for, I'm just happy your starting to feel better." Spyro said.

Cynder nodded in response and Spyro could tell that while she was not feeling completely better she was at least doing better than before. "Oh, ancestors! Aegis what happened to you?" The dragoness gasped noticing the lightning dragon for the first time.

"Just a few scratches nothing too serious." Aegis said playing it off, the wounds did hurt but not so much that he would make a fuss over them.

"Can you go on?" Spyro asked. Aegis nodded having no doubt that he could continue. "Alright then let's go." Spyro said and charged off towards the area that the fighting had moved to.

The purple dragon led the other two back towards the area where guards were fighting more apes. They were slowly beating them back, but some of the guards had already fallen and they could use help.

Spyro dived in head first ramming one ape with his horns before dodging away from another who swung a heavy club his way. Aegis was close behind him and he let loose a burst of electricity picking off the ape with the club.

Cynder was about to follow them as well when she saw another dragon guard that was being attacked by three apes. The black dragoness quickly changed courses to line up with the guard. Before she even engaged any head on the dragoness spat a glob of green poison. The corrosive liquid landed on the nearest ape who fell to the ground screaming as the bile ate through his flesh. The dragoness paid him no heed though as she charged forward and pounced on another ape. Cynder clawed at the creature before clamping down on his neck and snapping it leaving him dead on the ground. When she looked up she realized that the third ape had run away after the brutal display. The dragoness looked back to the guard who she had helped expecting him to do something. When she looked at him he just stared at her with wide eyes as if he didn't comprehend what was going on. Remembering the recent events that had unfolded Cynder shook her head before disappearing into the shadows on the ground. The guard watched as some feet away Cynder leapt out of the ground tackling yet another ape to the ground.

Spyro too saw Cynder leap out of the ground, seconds later though he realized that she was too far out into the advancing apes and was completely cut off from the other dragons. Aegis seemed to notice this too and he gave Spyro a nod, telling that purple dragon that he was behind him.

Spyro wasted no time and breathed fire scorching many of the apes in his path. The ones that were lucky enough to not be incinerated on the spot backed away from the powerful flames, hooting all the while. When the way was clear the two dragons charged down the newly formed path towards Cynder who was still fighting with an ape.

As Spyro led the way he saw an ape leap through the air towards him. The purple dragon was completely unprepared for the attack, and had no defense. Aegis on the other hand had been ready and Spyro watched as the lightning dragon jumped over him, and tackled the ape back to the ground. Aegis did away with the beast quickly before rejoining Spyro. The two reached Cynder and took up a defensive position. Both of them looked around to see that they were completely surrounded by tons of apes. They wondered why Cynder had even come out here in the first place.

A sudden roar broke their thoughts though, and they all turned as did the apes near them. The furry creatures moved aside to allow a dragon through, before them stood Erutos.

"Erutos, what's going on?" Spyro growled already getting a bad feeling about the earth dragon.

"Can you seriously not figure it out?" Erutos asked cocking a brow. Without giving them time to answer he continued. "I'm one of the seven."

"You too? What about Azshea she trusted you." Cynder spat, disgusted by the revelation.

"I don't think that we have to worry about Azshea for much longer." Erutos said with a wicked grin on his face.

"What are you talking about?" Aegis growled.

"I don't think we have to worry about her, soon she'll have forgotten about the whole thing." Erutos said avoiding the question.

"You have her don't you." Spyro said already knowing the answer.

"Give her back, or I swear to the ancestor's I'll kill you right here." Aegis said stepping forward electricity hopping around on his scales.

"No, Aegis we need to know where Azshea is, and he knows. We can't kill him, yet." Cynder reasoned as she held the lightning dragon back.

"Yeah, listen to Cynder." Erutos said. "Malefor always did say that you were clever and now I've seen it for myself." The statement sent a shiver down Cynder's spine, but she tried not to show it.

"If you want to see your friend you should follow me, but I warn you know when you see her she won't be the same person you remember." Erutos said with a laugh. The dragons watched as he walked off. They all expected the apes to resume attacking them, but to their surprise none of them did. The apes instead charged past them to help their friends.

"Come on lets go." Spyro said ignoring the apes.

"But what about the guards?" Cynder asked looking back to the dragons.

"They'll be fine we have to stop the seven before they hurt Azshea." Aegis said striding forward towards Erutos who was disappearing in the distance.

Spyro nodded. "They will be fine, Aegis is right we need to go."

Cynder took one last look at the guards before nodding, and together they all sprinted after Erutos.

Ashe walked around the small clearing slowly. Solris lay on the ground nearby Azshea who was still vainly trying to break the chains that held her.

"They won't break." Ashe said finally as the rattling chains were getting on her nerves.

"Shut up!" Azshea yelled, before turning her attention back to the chains.

Suddenly, an ape stepped out of the bushes nearby. He appeared as any other ape would except this one seemed to have an air of knowledge about him. He wore black robes that were laced with a deep red thread. All along his clothes were skulls, bones, and various symbols that Azshea had never seen before. He also had an assortment of bags and other effects. The creature made Azshea feel uneasy, as his appearance was quite startling.

"This would be the ape that will change you into one of us." Ashe said as she noticed the ape approaching them.

"Who is he?" Azshea asked nervously, as the ape walked up to her. The creature suddenly reached out and started placing its paws on Azshea inspecting her.

"This is the ape that will change you." When Ashe saw her blank look she continued. "You see Malefor was the one who originally found out how to change dragons into dark dragons. When he realized that one day he would die he taught the spell to others. Some of those others were apes, and this is one of those apes." Ashe explained. Solris watched the whole event without speaking. In actuality she was mortified that Ashe could do such a thing to her own daughter. The whole concept didn't sit right with Solris, but none the less she only watched.

"Why are you doing this Ashe?" Azshea asked as she felt the ape tug on her wing which she promptly moved out of his reach. The ape gave a hoot before jumping off the ground, and grabbing the leathery wing again forcing Azshea to lower it.

"I am surprised you didn't ask that earlier." The fire dragoness said. "You see when I was first converted Astir asked me what I could offer to the seven besides my service. I told them that I had a daughter that I would one day give to them. They accepted the offer, and so now I am giving you to them." The dragoness explained.

Azshea sat there awestruck at the statement. Solris on the other hand stood up. "Are you serious, Ashe?" Both fire dragonesses looked over to the black dragoness each with a questioning stare. "You actually sacrificed your own daughter?" Solris inquired.

"Yes, I did, but I don't believe that you have any say in the matter. Besides, why should I care about your opinion?" Ashe hissed as she stared at the smaller black dragoness.

"I can't believe you! Why would you condemn your own daughter to this kind of life?" Solris asked.

"Watch your words girl." Ashe growled. The dragoness was about to speak again, but the ape was suddenly in front of her. He nodded before turning and walking back to Azshea.

"It is time daughter, your darkest hour is upon you." Ashe said.

"No, I don't want to join you, let me go!" Azshea screamed desperately. The words struck a chord with Solris, but Ashe didn't seem to hear them.

"Ashe if you have any love left for me you'll let me out of here." Azshea said, tears welling in her eyes. Solris turned her head away for a moment to keep her emotions in check.

Ashe stared at her for a long time. "No, Azshea I know what is best for you. Now start the conversion!"

On the dragoness' word the ape reached into a bag on his hip, and pulled out a handful of small black crystals. Without hesitation the ape threw them at Azshea, the crystals landing all around the dragoness along with a few sprinkling her.

Azshea screamed in pain as the small crystals burrowed into her skin on their own. Forcing herself through the pain the dragoness looked to the ape who folded his hands, and had begun muttering something, as if he was chanting.

Azshea felt her body suddenly grow weak, and she stumbled trying to stay standing. The dragoness looked down to her body with bleary eye, to her dismay she realized that dark energy was flowing freely from the crystals, and being pushed into her body. Suddenly, Azshea spat blood onto the ground in front of her as her body began to ache.

As the energy welled up inside her the dragoness fell to the ground. Her body was rejecting the energy, but it couldn't keep the darkness out forever. Waves of pain washed over her making the dragoness flinch, and convulse almost constantly. She wanted to scream, but found herself too weak. As the dragoness' willpower wavered she wanted only to fall asleep but, the painfulness of the conversion kept her eyes open.

Solris watched the scene unfold before her and wanted to throw up. The dragoness watched Azshea fall to the ground as the darkness consumed her. She then looked to Ashe who was watching with a faint smile on her face. Solris shook her head as she tried to dispel her feelings of sorrow for the dragoness, but no matter what she tried she could not get rid of the feelings.

After another minute of the process Solris couldn't take it anymore. The dragoness leapt forward landing gracefully in front of the ape who didn't notice her in his fervor.

"Solris what are you doing?" Ashe screamed running forward to tackle the dragoness.

Solris lifted her tail blade, and inspected it momentarily. "The right thing." She said quietly as she plunged her tail blade forward spattering the ape's blood all over the ground. A second later the conversion stopped and the ape fell to the ground dead. Azshea too stopped writhing on the ground and lay very still.

Solris gave a sigh of relief when she saw the red dragoness relax. She didn't have long to revel in the moment though as she was tackled on the ground by Ashe. As the two dragonesses fought on the ground they didn't notice another figure run into the meadow.

Erutos glanced behind him to see Spyro and the others following close behind. The green dragon had not yet noticed what had happened in the glade, and therefore retained his confidence. "Like I said before don't expect Azshea to be the same." The green dragon said half turning so that he could see the clearing.

When he looked though his jaw dropped as he noted what had happened. "What the hell is going on?" He yelled looking at Ashe and Solris who were still fighting.

Spyro, Cynder, and Aegis all stopped as well to look at the bizarre moment. They didn't know what was going on. While the other dragons were distracted Spyro pointed to Azshea, and the three slowly made their way over to her.

"Ashe what happened?" Erutos asked again.

"Solris betrayed us, that's what!" Ashe growled as she swung a paw at Solris who ducked the blow and rolled behind the fire dragoness.

"That little bitch!" Erutos yelled outraged. The green dragon began stalking forward towards the two fighting dragons, before he was interrupted as lightning struck the ground in front of him. The green dragon turned his head to face Aegis who was glaring in his direction.

"Oh right, I guess you require my attention as well." The green dragon said before quickly slamming a paw into the ground. In response a pillar of earth slammed into Aegis' chest, to Erutos' surprise Aegis hardly budged. The lightning dragon growled, and lightning flew forth. Erutos quickly ducked away. He could feel a wave of numbness run through his body from the charge of the lightning, and he realized that he was dealing with a much more dangerous dragon than he had first realized.

Solris dived forward to avoid a wave of fire from Ashe. The black dragoness then shot herself straight up, being right in front of Ashe the dragoness slammed into her chin sending her rearing back. Solris stayed aloft in the air hovering just before the recovering fire dragoness.

"You would really sacrifice your position with us just for some dragoness?" Ashe asked, the question catching Spyro and Cynder's attention. Although the question was not directed at them they could still hear her shrill voice, and they wondered what was going on.

"She isn't just some dragoness she's your daughter, how can you just do that to her?" Solris asked outraged.

"It is my choice to make!" Ashe yelled before jumping up and catching Solris' leg in her mouth.

Within a moment Solris had hurtled through the air before landing on the ground. The black dragoness shook her head to get rid of her dizziness, and then rolled away knowing the Ashe would be right there.

Unfortunately, Ashe was quicker than she thought and she found her tail caught under the dragoness' paw. Solris turned herself around on the ground so that she could face Ashe. Almost before she could see what was going on Solris found herself enveloped in fire. As the hot flames licked at her the dragoness thought quickly, and let out a gust of wind blowing the flames away. At the same time she yanked her tail out from under Ashe's paw cutting with her blade in the process. Ashe growled, as she felt her throbbing paw.

Solris took her chance and got to her feet. The smaller dragoness rolled away again as Ashe's tail slammed down where she had been only moments ago. Once again the black dragoness leapt into the air and dropped back down on Ashe's back. She took no time in tearing away at Ashe's tough scales. Ashe roared in dismay, and whipped her body around quickly throwing the dragoness off of her.

Solris flew through the air once again before rolling on the ground and coming to a halt. The dragoness lay there winded trying to think of some sort of strategy to beat the adult. She looked up after a moment and her eyes widened. While she had been thinking Ashe had been moving. The fire dragoness was diving for her, head first mouth open ready to kill her.

Without thinking that black dragoness threw up her tail and closed her eyes, waiting for death to come. Instead of being clamped by a set of large teeth the dragoness heard a sick crunching sound. When nothing further happened the dragoness opened her eyes, to her surprise she had impaled Ashe on her tail blade. The metal going into her mouth and up into her brain.

Solris began to breathe heavily as she pulled her tail from the dragoness' mouth who slumped to the ground limp. She black dragoness got up and looked around. It was then that she realized that everyone's eyes were one her. They had heard the noise of Ashe's death and stopped what they were doing to look. Even Aegis and Erutos had stopped fighting.

Erutos looked from Ashe to her. The earth dragon glared at her before flying away knowing that if he stayed he would die.

After he had left Spyro, Cynder, and Aegis turned to Solris.


	16. Chapter 16

7

**A/N: Alright, wow I feel like I haven't written in ages. Sorry, through a combination of exams, writer's block, a retreat, service project, and friends I didn't get any time to write. But you guys didn't come here to hear about my life so here is the next chapter I hope you all enjoy it.**

Astir touched down lightly in a small side street. The black dragon didn't have to look as he heard Reave and Trias land behind him. Astir walked out from the alley with the other two dragons in tow. He emerged in an empty street. The black dragon knew why there were no dragons in the usually bustling streets. Only minutes before the black dragon himself had led a fairly formidable army of apes in a full scale assault on Warfang. He could still hear the screams and shouts off in the distance. As for the city the residents were all safely tucked away inside their homes hoping to avoid the gore of battle.

The black dragon didn't let the noises bother him though, and he turned his attention away from the carnage of battle and towards the large stone structure that towered over the others.

"The guardian temple of Warfang, sure to hold all of those pompous dragons that believe they are high and mighty, due to their title." Astir said as his comrades came up next to him.

"Our target, right?" Trias asked looking over to the dark dragon.

"Not exactly, we're after what is inside, remember?" Astir said in a calm tone. Trias looked at him surprised that the dark dragon had reacted as he did. Usually, when presented with a question Astir would respond with irritation and anger, not understanding. Trias realized that he must be in exceptionally good spirits then.

"Actually, Astir you never told us what we were looking for in there." Trias said hoping that he wasn't pushing his luck with the dragon's good mood.

Instead, the dark dragon chuckled lightly. "Oh that's right, well you'll just have to wait and see." Astir said. The dragon walked off leaving Reave and Trias to look at each other questioningly, before following him.

The three made their way through the silent streets unperturbed, with all of the other dragons gone it made it much easier for them to navigate the large roadways, within minutes the three dragons had made it all the way to the temple, as they stood on the ivory stairs that lead up to the building they could see guards standing at the entrance. Each of them looked like a well trained being, and ready to confront any that would attack them.

"What now?" Reave asked eyeing the guards.

"What do you think?" Astir asked, an evil grin on his face.

"I was hoping you would say that." Reave said as he continued his way up the stairs. To his surprise neither of the guards moved, leading the dragon to believe that neither of them had seen him yet. In actuality both guards had seen the three dragons. They both knew that something was wrong but decided to not react just yet.

Reave walked up the stairs growing ever closer to the guards and filling them with a sense of dread. They had both heard the rumors of the seven dragons of darkness. Unlike Blaze though, they believed the story. Malefor was as smart as he was powerful and if anyone would have successors it would be him. The rumors coupled with the sudden ape attack made them feel even more nervous. As they watched Reave draw closer they knew that the rumor was true.

The black dragon, who was enormous for his age, almost two whole heads taller than his comrades, strode forward with perfect resolve, and didn't seem at all bothered by the two hulking guards. When he drew close enough one of them finally shouted, "Stop!"

Reave didn't stop. He continued on as if he would walk right past the guards, completely ignoring them. As he came parallel to them the guards turned simultaneously on Reave. The black dragon made a small jump forward as he knew they would lash out. When he turned around he found that he was correct in his assumption as both guards were swinging at air where he had just been.

Reave turned his attention to the nearest guard, and breathed a wave of shadow fire. The black flames licked the guard's side making him yelp in surprise. Moments later the guard found himself on the ground his head reeling as Reave had tackled him. As the guard tried to regain his bearings, and fight off the large intruder he shot a bolt of lightning. The lightning guard watched in horror though as Reave took the blow without flinching, and proceeded towards him.

Astir was right behind Reave, and he saw the second guard moving to intercept his comrade. The black dragon growled, and charged forward, taking the ice guard by complete surprise. At the last moment Astir leapt into the air, and latched down onto the guard's neck. The dragon gave a cough as he tried to utilize his icy breath, but inevitably failed. Within moments Astir had snapped the dragon's neck. The strength of his jaw combined with the poison that dripped from his teeth had done quick work of the dragon's tough exterior. Within seconds the large ice dragon was on the ground, dying from the inhibiting wound.

Reave leaned down to pick up the already dazed lightning dragon by the neck. In one fluid motion he threw the adult, although it wasn't very high or far the guard slammed into a nearby wall, and fell to the ground unmoving.

Trias came up behind the two who both nodded, and together they all moved on towards their destination. The three dragons made no attempt to hurry realizing that there would be much more fighting up ahead.

Spyro and Cynder looked across the small glade at Solris. The black dragoness was looking around with wide eyes, as if she were a lost child. In front of the dragoness was Ashe. The adult fire dragoness was dead, Solris' tail blade having pierced her head, and killed her on contact. Now no one was really sure what to do.

"What's going on?" Aegis asked, while he was still confused he was nowhere near as stunned as the others. As the lightning dragon spoke he looked towards Solris, expecting some sort of explanation from the dragoness.

Solris head snapped up her eyes moving away from her bloodied tail blade, and locking onto Aegis. She looked at him with glazed eyes as if she herself was not even sure what had just transpired.

"Well?" Aegis growled, as he was in no mood to wait.

"I…I…" Solris stuttered. As she fumbled with her words Aegis shook his head and stepped forward. When he was close enough he slapped the dragoness across the face. The blow sent her reeling and she almost fell over from the force of the slap.

Aegis waited calmly watching the dragoness as she staggered and tried to regain her balance. After a long moment Solris looked up at him with glaring eyes.

"Don't even think about it." Aegis said in the coldest voice he could muster. Almost to his own surprise Solris did in fact back down as she saw electricity begin to jump around on the dragon's hide. "Are you ready to talk now, because if not I might as well kill you now."

"Kill me?" The dragoness squeaked, only now realizing that by killing Ashe she had no friends. No matter which way she turned now the seven would hate her, and the other dragons would obviously have no love for her either.

"What did you think we would do?" Aegis asked breaking the dragoness from her thoughts. The dragoness shook her head having no response.

"I'll ask again, what happened?" Aegis asked, as Spyro and Cynder came up behind them, Spyro having worked Azshea, who was still unconscious, onto his back. The dragons stood silently waiting for Solris to respond. They all knew that Aegis was right if this dragoness could not help them they would have to kill her, and move on, likely at that very moment apes were attacking the city, and they couldn't waste all their time here.

Solris looked at all of the dragons leaving her eyes to rest on Spyro, who was carrying Azshea. The simple gesture alone was making her envious of the dragons, for she had never even known something as simple as a friend.

The black dragoness gave a sigh. "Alright here's what happened. Astir, our leader, had asked Ashe, a long time ago when she joined the seven, that to join she would have to also give him something else. She promised to give her daughter, Azshea, to him." The dragoness paused for a moment looking from Ashe to Azshea, and shaking her head. "That's what they were doing tonight. They were performing the transformation on her to make her into…" The dragoness trailed off as her eyes wandered down to her own blackened scales. "Into one of us." The dragoness said solemnly. Aegis, Cynder, and Spyro never moved still waiting for the remainder of the story.

"About halfway through the ritual I decided that it wasn't right to do. I killed the ape that was performing the ceremony." Solris said bringing a surprised expression from the other dragons. Solris didn't seem to notice and she merely continued with her story. "After I killed him it stopped the transformation, but I don't know what will happen to Azshea. After the ape was dead Ashe went on a rampage, obviously angry that I had stopped the process. Then I killed her, although it was more luck than anything that I survived." The dragoness gave another sigh. "That's it really." She said.

There was complete silence for a few moments as Solris waited for her death to come. She figured that since she had told them what she knew they would now take her life. Instead she heard Spyro speak. "So Ashe was evil this whole time?"

"Looks like it. I knew she was bad but not this terrible." Cynder said, the sentence making Solris shudder as she knew that she was in the same league as Ashe, and was most likely referred to in the same way.

"Well, weather she was evil or not doesn't really matter now does it." Aegis stated nodding to Ashe's corpse.

"Aegis how could you say that?" Cynder asked shocked. "Even if she was evil she was still Azshea's mother."

"Yeah, well we can deal with that later right now, I think it's more important that we deal with her." Aegis said, quickly bringing the tip of his tail to rest under Solris' jaw, the move making the dragoness yelp as she felt the cold metal rest on her scales.

"Wait!" Spyro said stopping the golden dragon from killing the black dragoness.

"What now?" Aegis asked slightly irritated.

"It doesn't seem right." Spyro said shaking his head. Solris' eyes looked to Spyro in confusion; she didn't understand why anyone would stand up for her. "I mean she did save Azshea. Maybe she isn't all bad." The purple dragon explained.

"Are you kidding?" Aegis growled. "After all these dragons have done to us, done to you, you're just going to let this one get away?" The golden dragon asked losing his temper.

Spyro shook his head, and gave a small smile. "Not get away. It's more like kept as a prisoner." The dragon said.

Aegis seemed to settle down as he realized Spyro's plan. "She probably has some good information about what's been going on." Aegis said turning back to the dragoness who only looked at him with wide eyes. She had considered telling them that she really knew nothing of what was going on but that would only hurt her at the moment so instead she kept her mouth shut.

"Let's take her back then." Spyro said, stretching his wings as he tried not to upset Azshea's slumbering body.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" Cynder said drawing both dragons' attention. "I mean you are placing her right in the middle of Warfang."

"I won't do anything, I promise." Solris said, no louder than a whisper. The others looked at her suspiciously, reluctant to trust someone like Solris.

"How can we trust you?" Spyro asked.

"You can't really, but there has to be some reason why I'm not dead yet. Obviously, you see something in me, so I guess trust in that part of me." The black dragoness said hoping that Spyro would understand what she was talking about.

There was a pause before Spyro answered. "Fine let's just go. I want to get back, since there is a good chance that the city is under attack."

Each of the dragons nodded and took off into the sky headed back towards Warfang.

Astir plunged his tail into yet another guard's chest striking into his heart, and killing him, it seemed to the black dragon that he had defeated an entire army of these guards, and he was beginning to wonder how many of them were left in the temple. He, along with Reave and Trias had already climbed four stories of the massive building; on each level they had fought numerous dragons. Each time they had succeeded in defeating all of them, but they were all getting tired, and Astir knew that if they didn't find what they were looking for it would all be over soon.

A bolt of lightning shot across the room pushing a dragon with it as Trias killed the last opponent on their current floor.

"By the ancestors how many more are there?" Trias asked panting from the exertion.

"Why does it matter we'll kill them all anyway." Reave said as he examined the blood on his massive talons.

"Yeah, but I'm tired." The lightning dragon whined.

"Astir?" Reave asked looking to his leader to end the yellow dragon's complaining.

"Trias shut it! If you can't handle this then leave, but don't expect a warm welcome when we see each other next." Astir growled as he looked up the next flight of circular stairs.

The yellow dragon immediately closed his mouth, knowing that he had crossed a line. He had considered leaving but knew that it was out of the question, since he would have nowhere to turn. He only gave a muffled sigh as he followed the other two up the stairs towards the next floor and the next fight.

The three dragons reached the next floor, and were greeted by yells and growls as the guards of that floor noticed them as well. Each of them gave a sigh, and turned to face their opponents. Four guards one of each element rushed towards the dragons.

"Great." Astir sighed.

"Don't you start whining too." Reave said drawing a smile from Astir. The bulky black dragon leapt forward into the first guard.

Reave opened his maw, and latched onto the dragon's neck. He easily snapped it killing the fire dragon instantly. The guard had been in fact over confident thinking that since he was fighting adolescents that it would be very easy. His friends had also thought this, but after seeing their fellow dragon die in a split second they all stopped and prepared for a legitimate fight.

Astir and Trias walked up beside Reave who stepped off the now dead guard. "Look why don't you just let us through. It would be much easier for both of us." The dark dragon said.

"Why would we let scum like you through?" The ice guard asked angrily as he barred his teeth menacingly.

"We have killed every dragon on the floors below this one. What makes you think that you will be any different?" Astir asked.

Suddenly, the earth guard let out an angry roar, and began to charge forward, causing each of the dark dragons to brace themselves. To their surprise though, the ice dragon held up his paw stopping the earth guard's advance. "We do not consider ourselves any different. However, we have already sent out for reinforcements, within minutes you will be trapped here and all of you will be killed." The ice dragon said with a cold smile.

"No time to waste then." Astir said, before quickly darting forward. The dragon moved so fast that none of the guards were remotely ready for the attack. The black dragon simply dived forward ramming into the ice guard's left leg. There was a loud snap as the dragon buckled, and fell to the ground his leg broken. Astir was hardly hindered though, and as he regained his footing he immediately spat a glob of poison that splashed onto the ice dragon's skin making him howl in agony. Then without turning the black dragon ducked under the earth guard's quick swipe.

The black dragon made no move to attack though as suddenly electricity shot across the room, and slammed into the green earth dragon. The electric energy easily lifting up the guard, and throwing him back as he convulsed from the sudden attack.

As the earth dragon was forcibly moved out of the way Astir watched as Reave unleashed a wave of shadow fire that washed over the electric guard just as the yellow dragon was about to attack. Astir could see the golden dragon's scales turn black before he fell to the ground dead.

Seeing that all other threats were out of the way Astir turned back to the ice guard who, to his surprise, was smiling. Astir walked up about to ask why he was so happy, but he was cut off as he received his answer. "Do you hear those footsteps?" The guard asked still smiling.

Astir took a moment to listen, and he heard very faint sounds of steps. They sounded like they were at the foot of the temple. Astir turned his attention back to the ice dragon who continued to talk. "Even though I didn't succeed in killing you, those dragons will." The guard laughed.

Astir gave his own chuckle which immediately unnerved the ice dragon, who wondered how someone so young and so hopelessly outnumbered could simply laugh, even though he was about to die. The black dragon leaned down close to the ice dragon's face so that he was very close before whispering. "I hope you realize that if they catch up to me, then you just sent dozens of dragons to their graves." The guard's eyes widened, and he started to form a response, but it only came up as a gurgle. Astir's tail blade was sticking in his chest, and the dragon pulled it out with a jerk killing the guard.

"If we don't hurry we're going to get caught so let's go!" Astir yelled as he charged for the stairs, Reave and Trias on his heels.

The three dragons sprinted up the next flight of stairs bringing them to the next floor. Astir looked towards the center, and to his surprise Blaze and Krista, the guardians of fire and ice stood silently staring at him.

"Wow so you are real, I guess I owe someone an apology." Blaze said, although the last words tasted bitter in his mouth.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but you are going to lead me to what I need." Astir said angrily walking forward until he was only a few feet from Blaze.

"Oh, and what do you need?" Blaze asked cocking his head, his voice still calm.

"The Scale of Raknos." Astir said simply.

Blaze's cool demeanor suddenly dropped for what seemed like the first time in his life. "The…the Scale of…Raknos?" The dragon stuttered.

"Oh good you know what I'm talking about. Now where is it?" Astir asked forcefully.

"I can't give it to you. If you had the scale then you could…" Blaze trailed off realizing what was at stake.

"Well, I guess I really didn't expect you to just give it to me. Maybe a bit of persuasion then, Reave get the answer for me."

Spyro, Cynder, Aegis, and Solris flew over the city, going at a hurried pace. Spyro being in the most hurry since Azshea was weighing him down. Solris on the other hand was lagging behind, since she had no will to continue to fly straight into confinement. She had considered flying away from the group and losing them but realized that she most likely wouldn't get away and if she did then what would she do? Cynder seemed to notice the black dragoness' mood, and she got Spyro's attention. She silently nodded back to the Solris and Spyro gave a reluctant nod.

Cynder dropped back until she came up right beside Solris startling the black dragoness. Although Cynder had decided to fly back she really didn't know how to start a conversation with someone who, up until now, had been her enemy.

"What do you want?" Solris asked obviously not in the mood to talk.

"I don't know I just thought that I would check up on you." Cynder said starting to wonder why she had even come back in the first place.

"Check up on me?" Solris asked, thinking prospect itself was dumb.

"Yeah, I just thought that you looked pretty down." Cynder said.

"Wouldn't you be down if you were being taken to be a prisoner, and were probably going to be killed?" Solris asked.

"Well, I guess I would feel that way, but really we aren't bad people. This won't be like solitary confinement."

"Easy for you to say, you aren't the prisoner here." Solris growled.

"Look, I promise you that we won't treat you badly." Cynder said.

"Yeah, I'm sure that will happen." Solris said rolling her eyes.

"Hey you saved one of our friends." Cynder said nodding to Azshea who was still passed out. "I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to you." Cynder said.

"Are you serious?" Solris asked. The question itself threw Cynder off balance as she wondered why this dragoness would think she was lying, but she nodded anyway.

Solris looked away from Cynder, and no words passed between them for a long time. Seeing that nothing further was going to be discussed Cynder looked over and said. "Hey what is your name?" Cynder said only now realizing that she didn't know who this dragoness was.

"I'm, Solris." The black dragoness said hesitantly not quite sure if she should reveal the information.

"Well, Solris, I'm Cynder, and I promise that nothing bad is going to happen to you. Right now though I am going to go back up with Spyro and make sure he is doing okay, alright?"

"Yeah, okay." Solris said nodding. As the black dragoness watched Cynder go she couldn't help but feel touched. That was really the first time that anyone had cared enough to ask her name, or really try to comfort her. The black dragoness tried to hide her face from nonexistent eyes as tears slowly rolled down her cheeks.

Blaze slammed into the ground. The red dragon tried to pull himself up, but found that he was unable. Reave had managed to defeat him within seconds. He had never seen such a large dragon move so quickly.

He looked over to see Krista who had only been restrained by a yellow dragon that he didn't know, but was otherwise unharmed. Blaze felt himself be picked up, the red dragon looked through blurry eyes at who he assumed was Reave. The black dragon's stark red eyes cut through him, and sent a shiver down his spine.

Reave who was holding the guardian in his claws felt the shiver, and chuckled seeing that he had gotten his message across. The black dragon tossed the smaller fire dragon onto the ground in front of Astir.

"Are you ready to tell me now?" Astir asked.

"I'm not telling you where the scale is." Blaze coughed. "I don't care if you kill me, but I won't tell you."

"Maybe you don't care if you die, but what about you're little girlfriend here?" Astir asked, walking over to Krista and placing his tail blade up to her throat.

Krista gasped at the sudden threat to her life, but made no other sounds or movements.

"I'll kill her if you don't tell me." Astir said hoping that this threat would work. He could hear more dragons coming up the stairs, and he knew that he didn't have much time.

There was a pause before Blaze spoke. "No, I still won't tell you." Blaze said. "Our lives are worth nothing compared to that of our entire species, not to mention the rest of the world." Blaze explained, every word being caught in his throat.

Astir gave a low growl knowing that the other dragons would be upon them soon. "Krista, show me where it is." Astir said lowering his tail. He had hoped that he wouldn't have to reveal her identity, but he saw no other option. Krista was one of the seven that had been integrated into society. With a lot of luck Krista had become a guardian, and had spied on them since she had been inaugurated. The only downside being that it had been impossible for her to leave, and update the other dark dragons.

"Yes Astir, follow me." The ice dragoness said walking off towards the next staircase.

"Krista, what are you doing?" Blaze exclaimed as he tried to stand up.

"It would be best if you just don't get up." Krista said her voice suddenly as cold as ice.

"Krista…don't tell me…you're not…" The fire dragon trailed off not having the strength to finish his sentence.

"I am one of them, so stay down or I'll kill you myself!" The ice dragoness said harshly before turning on her paw and quickly walking away.

Astir, Reave, and Trias followed her leaving the fire dragon to stumble on the floor.

The four dragons moved quickly encountering no guards on the next floors. After climbing two flights of stairs Krista veered off towards what looked like a normal wall. Once there the dragoness pushed in one of the stones that looked like any other. The stone moved back, and suddenly a large opening appeared in the wall.

"Convenient." Astir said as he followed Krista down into the sparsely lit room. Inside was an antechamber where Astir found two dragons standing side by side. One being an earth dragoness and the other was a yellow dragon. Astir quickly identified them as the other guardians.

Krista stepped into the room first. "Step aside you two, and let us pass."

"Krista, what are you doing?" The earth guardian, Tera, asked completely unsure of what was happening.

Krista was about to respond when she was cut off by Astir. "We don't have time for this Krista." He said somewhat anxiously.

The ice dragoness nodded and charged forward. Once she was in range the dragoness froze the lightning dragon, Srix, in a deep layer of frost. Reave sprinted forward snapping his tail out to smash Tera into a wall, causing the stone to crack and the dragoness to fall to the ground.

"Thank you." Astir said as he hurried forward opening the door into the main chamber. The room was in fact very small. There was nothing fancy about it. On a pedestal near the back of the room was a single blood red scale. "Finally." Astir said as he picked up the object.

"Now let's get out of here. Trias if you would."

Trias nodded, and there was a sudden crackling sound, followed by a large explosion as Trias used his lightning to blast a large hole in the wall of the temple. All of the dragons flew out within seconds.

Astir led the way back out of the city. The black dragon flew silently, a smile on his face as he turned the scale over in his claws.

**A/N: One last quick AN. I feel like I shouldn't ask this, I don't know why though. Anyhow, I'm curious to know if I should extend this story into a series or not. I ask because if I do extend it then I need to start planning things out, because at the moment it can still go either way. If you guys could let me know that would be great. Also, don't be afraid to tell me if you don't want it extended because it wouldn't bother me. Finally, no matter what you guys say I won't tell you if I am going to extend it or not because that would take away from the story.**


	17. Author's Note

Alright, I hate to do this because I imagine that as you read this you are probably thinking, "Oh great, it's not a new chapter." Sorry, I just want to say that obviously updates have been coming slower. So now I am going to say that I am going to step back from this story a bit. I will still finish it, though it will take longer. Basically, I have no inspiration at the moment so if I keep going it will probably turn out badly. That's about it, so sorry to keep you all waiting but hopefully I'll get back into this story soon.


	18. Chapter 17

8

**A/N: Alright, so this happened to be a quicker update than I imagined. I went camping and that made me want to write so I guess that's about it, hope you enjoy.**

Spyro, Aegis, and Cynder watched as Azshea was taken from their room by Terrodar and the others. The red dragoness was still unconscious and it was becoming quite clear that her injuries were more than skin deep.

As she was removed from the room Terrodar gave the three a quick nod. He had already been informed, in private, of the fact that Solris was one of the seven. He had no idea what the younger dragons would do with her but he figured that they had the situation under control, seeing as they had gotten the black dragoness here so easily. In Terrodar's opinion the dragoness seemed quite submissive.

After the elder had left each of the dragons turned on Solris, who had been standing a few feet behind everyone else. When she saw their eyes upon her she cringed and attempted to hide behind her wings like a child would. Despite the comforting words Cynder had given her on the way to the guardian's house she still feared for her life.

There were a few moments of silence as all of the dragons starred at each other. As usual the silence was broken by Sparx. "So now what do we do?" The golden dragonfly asked.

Spyro, Cynder, and Aegis all jumped slightly at the words. Sparx had been unusually quiet, and they had actually forgotten that he was there. The dragons all looked at each other awkwardly again.

"I guess we start by asking, what's going on?" Spyro said his eyes coming to rest on Solris. Cynder and Aegis' eyes also focused in on Solris expecting some sort of answer. Each of them were equally baffled by the situation and they all desperately wanted some answers.

After what seemed like years the black dragoness spoke in barely more than a whisper.  
"I already told you, I don't know what's going on."

"I don't believe it. Tell us now or I swear I'll end your life here and now." Aegis said his voice a low growl.

"I'm telling the truth, I swear it! All of the others hated me! At one point Astir even…" The dragoness trailed off suddenly losing her momentum. She was about to mention her own death. For some reason she couldn't bring herself to. A second later though she was thankful that she had not said anything as she suddenly realized that by being here, with Spyro and the others she was unintentionally putting them in danger. Astir could look through her eyes, hear through her ears, and even control her. By staying there she could bring a lot of harm. Surely if these dragons knew that then they would kill her on the spot. She couldn't risk that.

The dragoness was jostled from her thoughts by a loud voice. "What were you going to say?" Aegis asked with an edge of anger in his voice and it was apparent to the black dragoness that it was not the first time the question had been asked.

"I can't tell you." Solris said shaking her head. The answer sent all three of the dragon's minds reeling.

"What do you mean you can't tell us? We are letting you live and you want to keep secrets?" Spyro asked surprised by the dragoness' choice, but his voice was not nearly as angry as Aegis'.

"I can't tell you." The dark dragoness said again, her eyes locked on the stone floor, as she didn't have the willpower to look the dragons in the eye.

"I've had enough, if she doesn't know anything, and she won't talk about what she does know then I say we kill her." Aegis said walking forward as he brought his tail to bear.

As quickly as the golden dragon had started moving forward he suddenly faltered as black fire splashed in front of him. The drake looked to Cynder with angry eyes. "What are you doing Cynder?"

"We aren't going to kill her." Cynder said simply but forcefully.

"What do you mean? Why do you want to keep her alive, when she has committed crimes, and won't even help us remedy them?" Aegis asked astounded.

"You are too quick to judge." Cynder said. "Give her a chance." Aegis looked back to the dragoness as if she was crazy. He didn't understand why Cynder was trying to defend someone that they had been trying to kill for so long. The very prospect made the electric dragon livid.

"Cynder what is your reasoning for this? At this point I have to agree with Aegis, unless you can give me some reason to let her live." Spyro interjected hoping to keep his two friends from fighting.

The question stung Cynder slightly, as she was hoping that Spyro would be with her on this, but she quickly dispelled the feeling, knowing that Spyro had good reason to agree with Aegis. In actuality Cynder was only doing this because she had made a promise to Solris, she felt sorry for the dragoness.

"I just think that we are acting a bit haphazardly. We have only been talking for a few minutes, and you already want to kill her, maybe give her some time to collect herself." The dragoness said hoping to dissuade them from their current course of action.

"She said herself that she doesn't know. Besides she hurt Azshea, one of us. Don't you think that deserves some sort of retribution?" Aegis asked, trying hard to keep his voice calm.

Solris watched as the three dragons tossed her fate back and forth. She considered interrupting to say something that would help her case, but she held her tongue as she realized that this matter was out of her hands.

"Well first off, you are wrong in that assumption. Assuming that we saw and heard correctly, then Ashe was the one that tried to hurt Azshea, and if anything Solris saved her. If you'll remember Solris and Ashe were fighting when we got there." Cynder paused for a moment as her eyes turned back to Solris, and examined her. "If you want to take revenge then I don't believe this is the dragoness to take it on." She finished as she still examined Solris.

Aegis couldn't argue with that prospect. He did in fact want revenge, but Cynder's words had struck a chord with him. The golden dragon lowered his tail blade which had until now been raised threateningly. "Perhaps you are right, but that doesn't change everything, just because she didn't directly hurt Azshea doesn't change the other things that she has done." Aegis stated.

"Excuse me." A familiar voice said, and all eyes turned to Terrodar who had reentered the room. The green dragon turned his head specifically towards Spyro and Cynder. "A messenger just came by he asked for you two." Terrodar said, and when he saw their questioning eyes he continued. "You are to go see Blaze; I believe it is regarding the attack from earlier today."

"Great my favorite person." Spyro said.

"Well, if he's your favorite then let's not keep him waiting." Cynder said, giving the purple dragon a small, but affectionate nuzzle, in the hopes of cheering him up.

"Hey lovebirds, we still have this problem over here." Aegis said, nodding his head back to Solris who twitched slightly.

"We'll bring her with us." Spyro said, and the other two jumped at the prospect.

"What?" Aegis asked. "Is that really a good idea?"

"It can't really hurt at this point. I mean at least then we can keep an eye on her, seeing as at the moment she is our responsibility." Spyro explained.

"Fine then let's just go, and get this over with." Aegis said after a moment having no way to argue with the purple dragon.

"You know he only asked for me and Cynder." Spyro said giving the golden dragon a small smirk.

"Yeah, well if he has a problem with it he can take it up with me." Aegis said narrowing his eyes as he jumped over the balcony into the deepening twilight. Spyro shook his head, as he never really expected Aegis to stay behind. Spyro turned back about to say something when he noticed Cynder moving towards Solris. Instead, the dragon stood still and watched silently.

Solris looked up as Cynder approached her. The dark dragoness didn't know what to do; she just stayed still, and looked up at Cynder silently. Slowly, as to not alarm the dragoness, Cynder leaned down, and in a hushed whisper said. "I told you that you wouldn't get hurt."

Solris' eyes widened in surprise, as she realized that she had in fact made it out of her predicament without a scratch on her, for the time being at least. "Th-thank you." The dragoness stuttered. Cynder's kindness still surprised her, and she hardly knew how to respond to it.

"Hey, we should probably go, I don't want to keep Aegis waiting." Spyro said. The purple dragon had only heard Solris say thank you, and he didn't really know what was happening. Although he was curious, the purple drake trusted that Cynder would tell him what had happened when the time was right.

"Alright let's go." Cynder said walking over to him, with a reluctant Solris in tow.

Astir looked down at the Scale of Raknos. The innocent looking crimson scale was light in his paw. Although it looked like an ordinary scale that any fire dragon would shed, the scale held unimaginable power if used in the correct way.

"Astir, are you going to stare at that thing all day or are we going to go and use it." Trias asked breaking the black dragon's concentration. Astir looked up, having to forcefully break his eyes away from the scale.

"We can't use it here. We must be patient; we hold all of the cards right now." Astir explained happily.

"Well then where are we going?" Reave asked stepping in.

"We are going to the volcano in the burned lands. The volcano resides in the area where Malefor made his base." Krista said stepping up next to Astir.

"Why does she know what's going on and we were left in the dark?" Trias asked jealousy laced into his words.

"I know more because I have certain…" Krista trailed off as she set her lips against Astir's, and the two enjoyed a long kiss, before Krista pulled herself away. "I have certain privileges." She finished with a small smile. Trias just looked at them in awkward surprise. Luckily, for the electric dragon there was an interruption to break the sudden silence.

"Astir!"

Every dragon turned to see a familiar face, each of them surprised except for Reave who never seemed to show any emotion. Erutos landed haphazardly on the ground near to them. The green dragon was obviously distressed, and this fact alone made all of the others uneasy.

"Where are Solris, and Ashe, and her daughter for that matter?" Astir asked already preparing for the bad news that he knew was sure to come.

"They aren't here." Erutos said as he caught his breath.

"I can see that you whelp! What happened?" Astir said suddenly losing his temper.

"Solris is gone." Erutos said mental preparing himself for the outburst that he knew would come.

"And Ashe?" Astir said as if he knew the news before it came.

"Her corpse is rotting in a field."

"Her daughter?"

"Spyro and his friends interfered."

"What are you telling me right now Erutos?" Astir asked his body beginning to quake, and even Krista backed away out of fear.

"I…I am s-saying that, we…we lost." Erutos said his voice breaking as he looked the enraged dragon in the eye.

"Then tell me what further purpose do I have for you?" Astir said, but the question was rhetorical, and as Erutos' eyes widened Astir leapt atop him in a flurry of teeth and claws. The black dragon slashed in a fury not seeming to care that by killing Erutos he would only hurt himself and his cause even more.

Astir leapt off of Erutos who had, in that short amount of time, already received a multitude of wounds. When the black dragon landed on the ground he sunk into it falling into one of the many shadows that littered the ground.

While the dark dragon disappeared Erutos slowly pulled himself up from the ground. The green dragon stumbled as he tried to regain his footing. Looking out he saw only his other allies standing passively by, blank emotionless stares on their faces none of them making any attempt to help. As the wounded dragon scanned his surroundings he noted that Astir was not among them. As a stream of possibilities flew through the green dragon's brain he realized what was about to happen.

Erutos looked down just in time to see Astir leap out of the shadows below him, and snap his maw down around the green dragon's neck. With so much force behind the black dragon he and Erutos both shot a few feet into the air before landing roughly on the ground. The green dragon writhed on the ground as Astir bite into his flesh.  
"W-Wait!" The green dragon coughed as he felt Astir's teeth dig into his scales, and begin to draw blood.

Surprisingly, Astir did let up. The black dragon removed his teeth in order to talk. Although his sharp teeth had been removed, they were only inches away ready to strike again at any moment. "What is it?" The dragon hissed, angry at being interrupted.

"You could find Solris with that pendant." The green dragon paused to cough again, this time he also expelled some blood. "Then we could go get her, and this wouldn't be a total loss." The green dragon finished. Erutos knew it was a slim chance at keeping himself alive, but at this point he would try anything. All he really had to do was ease the dragon's anger until he calmed down.

Astir stood pensively for a moment before stepping off of the green drake who quickly scrambled on the ground before regaining his footing.

"You could just control her body and bring her back here." Erutos said continuing with his plan.

Astir's eyes suddenly narrowed, and he flipped around whipping his tail out to slam into Erutos' face, knocking the dragon back to the ground.

"You truly are a fool." The black dragon muttered. "Have you already forgotten that I can only control the dragoness if I am close to her?" Astir asked in a much louder voice.

"I am sorry Astir, I-I'll go get her myself just tell me where she is." Erutos said as he rubbed his cheek.

"No, no you have failed me already. You will not be retrieving Solris." Astir said, and Erutos lowered his head obviously ashamed. "Krista, you will be the one to find our wayward friend, and bring her back."

"I will not fail you." Krista said with a deep bow. "Simply, tell me where to find her, and I shall carry out your command."

Astir nodded before sitting on his haunches. The dark dragon closed his eyes and the small pendant that hung from his neck began to glow.

After the dragon had drifted off into a trance Erutos spoke up. "I have half a mind to kill him right now."

"Do it and you won't see his body hit the ground." Reave said and Erutos could tell that the large dragon was completely serious. The green dragon instead settled for a low growl before lying down to recover from his wounds.

Solris felt a shiver course down her spine as she walked through the temple. Her whole body went numb for a moment, and the dragoness suddenly stopped moving. Cynder who had been walking next to her stopped as well and gave her a questioning look. Solris only shook her head, as she herself was not sure what had just come over her.

"Nervous?" She heard Cynder ask.

"I guess." The dark dragoness replied.

"Well, don't be, you'll be fine, remember I promised that nothing would happen to you."

Solris nodded halfheartedly. Cynder had proven to keep her promise before, but this situation was beyond just one sympathetic dragoness' opinion. They were in the guardian's temple. The dragons here may not be as caring as Cynder was. None the less, Solris continued to walk forward, following Spyro and Aegis who were in the lead.

The dragons all continued up the staircase in short order. As they entered the next floor a guard stood silently on watch.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where to find Blaze at?" Spyro asked as he approached the adult.

"Yes, the fire guardian is just up the next set of stairs, and then on the left in the infirmary." The guard replied.

"Infirmary?" Aegis asked surprised.

"Yes, do you not know?" The guard asked. When he saw the lightning dragon's blank stare he continued. "The dragons that attacked stole a very powerful artifact, and injured the fire guardian in the process." The guard explained. After he spoke all of the dragons looked back to Solris. The black dragoness could only shrug having no answer for them. As they glanced back at her so too did the guard.

"She's one of them!" He yelled. Solris suddenly ducked and rolled forward as lightning struck the spot where she had been standing. The dragoness who had absent-mindedly rolled towards her enemy was quickly slapped away by a massive paw. Solris skidded across the ground, and stopped in a daze. She could feel three claw marks stretching down her side. The dragoness shook her head as the room spun all around her. She could just make out the sound of Spyro and the others yelling at the guard and explaining the situation.

Solris suddenly found herself on all fours again, the help of another bringing her back up. The black dragoness looked over to her side to see who had helped her. To her surprise it was not Cynder who had helped her up, but Aegis instead. The golden dragon stared at her with an expressionless look before turning and walking away without saying a word.

As Solris vision steadied she noticed that Spyro and the others had begun to move up the stairs and were now waiting for her. As she moved towards them she heard Spyro speak. "She's with us, we'll make sure that nothing happens, so don't go yelling to the entire city about this."

The guard nodded hesitantly to the dragon and as Solris passed he spoke softly so that only she would hear. "Your kind is despicable; I'll never know how you can live with yourself."

Solris took the comment, hardly caring, and followed the others up the stairs.

The dragons made it to the infirmary without any other confrontation. They all entered to find Blaze lying on a large pillow. The red guardian was covered in minor wounds, but his major injuries had already been cleaned and dressed. Beside him was an adult dragoness who appeared to be tending to his wounds. When Blaze saw the purple dragon enter he motioned for the nurse to leave.

The female gave a huff in response, "But guardian you ha-

"Leave now." The fire guardian interrupted two small jets of fire exiting his nostrils. The show of his element made the nurse give a small yelp before she got up, and began to leave.

"So Blaze what have you called us here for this time? Hopefully, it's not to accuse us of betrayal, again." Spyro said, but his tone was not a joking one. When no response came forth he spoke up again. "Are you just going to lie there all day, or are you going to tell us what happened?"

Blaze didn't say anything he just pointed to the nurse who was taking an extremely long time leaving, as she was pretending to tidy up around the infirmary. The dragoness didn't notice him, and so Aegis gave a sigh, and tapped the dragoness on her back. The dragoness twitched when she was touched, and nervously turned around to face Aegis.

"Sorry, but I have to ask you to leave." The yellow dragon said in a tired voice.

"I am sorry, but I have to st-

"Leave!" The golden dragon roared and small sparks shot off of his scales. The nurse in turn yelped and scrambled from the room in fear.

"As you can see we aren't exactly in a good mood." Cynder said as she turned back to Blaze.

"Neither am I so let's get down to it." Blaze said seeming to ignore Aegis outburst.

"I think you all know that there was an attack on Warfang today. The main attack force was apes, and they were successfully fended off. Those who planned the attack though were much more successful." The red dragon stated.

"The seven." Spyro said his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah them, they came to this temple and stole an artifact known as the Scale of Raknos." Blaze explained.

"Okay and that is bad, why?" Spyro asked.

"The scale has been kept here ever since the death of a fire dragon known as Raknos. To give you the shortened version Raknos was a fire dragon of immense power. Over time that power went to his head, and he began experimenting with dark magic. He became a tyrant, asserting his power over the weak. After some time other dragons managed to kill him. Before he died though, he took one of scales, and imbued it with an enormous amount of energy." The fire dragon finished.

"What exactly will this scale do in the wrong hands?" Cynder asked.

"If the scale is simply thrown inside a certain volcano that resides in the burned lands, then it will throw up an immense amount of ash and lava, so much that the sun will be blotted out, and more than half of the world will be seared."

"Great another world threatening plot to stop." Sparx said sarcastically, but no one seemed to hear the glowing bug.

"Alright, so tell me this why didn't you just destroy the scale before this happened?" Aegis asked.

"We have tried before and found no way to destroy the scale. Look this is no time to worry about the past. We have to stop the seven before they use that scale." Blaze said.

"Fine but how did they even get a hold of that, you must have had some sort of security, right?" Spyro asked.

"No one knew about it, the secret is only passed down to guardians because the object is too dangerous to tell the public about. Outside of the guardians very few knew of the scale's existence. I was told that Malefor knew of the scale and that it was the reason he attacked Warfang. When he could not get it he then resorted to using the destroyer."

"But if no one but the guardians knew about it then how did the seven find it?" Spyro asked.

"Don't tell me that one of them was…" Cynder stopped as she realized what she was saying.

"A guardian…" Blaze said disdain showing in his voice. "Krista was one of the seven she led them to the scale.

"Are you serious? How could they get one of their own to the status of a guardian?" Aegis asked.

"I don't know. I don't have any more answers for you. All I can tell you is that you need to go to the burned lands, and find the seven before they use the scale." Blaze said.

There was silence in the room for a few moments as none of the dragons knew what to say. Blaze was the first to break it. "Where is Azshea, she usually travels with you doesn't she?"

"Her mother was one of the seven." Spyro said bluntly, and Blaze flinched at the revelation. "Ashe tried to convert her daughter into another dark dragon, but was unsuccessful; she is resting at the old guardian's house now." Spyro explained.

"I assume that you were the one to stop them from converting her?" Blaze asked cocking his head to the side.

"No, actually it was her, Solris." Spyro said stepping aside, and nodding to the black dragoness who had been trying to hide behind the other dragons of the group.

Blaze's eyes widened when he saw her, and he immediately looked back to Spyro. "But she is-

"One of the seven, yes we know. We captured her; we hope that she'll shed some light on the seven, and the situation that is currently upon us." Spyro explained.

"And did she?" Blaze asked hopefully.

"Not yet, but we not had much time to talk." Spyro explained.

"Would you like me to look after her? I am sure the guards could think up some way to make her talk." Blaze asked deviously.

Spyro looked back to Cynder who shook her head slightly. "No, we can handle this." Spyro said simply as he turned back to Blaze.

"Hey Spyro, not to interrupt, but maybe we should leave, we need to head back and make sure that Azshea is okay, most likely she is up by now." Aegis said, and Spyro gave a quick nod.

"Blaze we'll look into this Scale of Raknos." Spyro said. Without missing a beat Sparx added. "But you owe us now." With the comment a few glares were thrown Sparx's way but Blaze seemed to not be bothered by the dragonfly.

"Fine I wish you all luck, even you Solris, assuming you are on our side." Blaze said, which made Solris give an awkward nod as she had not expected to be addressed in that way.

As the dragons began to exit the room Blaze spoke once again. "Spyro if I could have a moment of your time, I would be grateful." Blaze said as the other dragons stepped out of the room. Spyro gave them a reassuring nod before turning back to face the dragon.

"What is it?" Spyro asked curious as to what the fire guardian would tell him in private that he would not say in front of the others.

"Spyro I owe you an apology." Blaze explained, the sentence alone throwing Spyro off guard. "I have treated you, and your friends unfairly, but I assure you that I had my reasons, even if they were wrong."

"Oh and what were those reasons?" Spyro pressed, hoping to finally get an answer as to why Blaze had always disliked him.

The fire guardian gave a sigh. "When Malefor was still in power my parents were killed by his forces. My parents had told me that you would save us all from Malefor, but they died anyway. I blamed you for their death. I told myself that if you saved so many others, then you could have saved them too. Seeing you now, doing everything in your power to stop the seven, I realize that if you could have, you would have done everything you could to save my parents. I am sorry for wrongly judging you earlier; I hope that you can forgive me."

Taking in all the information at once made Spyro confused at first, but none the less the dragon gave a nod, and the fire guardian breathed a sigh of relief.

"Once again I wish you luck in your endeavor to stop the seven. Remember Spyro the world is counting on you, you must deliver us from this fate." Blaze said, and once again Spyro could only nod as he walked towards the door the weight of his task weighing down on his shoulders.

Astir's eyes opened slowly. The black dragon had watched, and heard all that Solris had. Throughout his trance he had stayed completely stationary. Now for the first time in what felt like forever he stood up.

"What have you gleaned?" Krista asked curiously.

"It seems that Solris has made some new friends." Astir said.

"Where does she reside?"

"She is in Warfang along with Spyro and the others." Astir said drawing a surprised look from all of the dragons.

"You would like me to end her life?" Krista asked sinisterly.

"No, do not kill her, through her eyes I can see all that Spyro and his little gang do. No, only remind her that we have not forgotten about her." Astir said with a wicked grin.

"As you wish master." Krista said, giving a bow before taking flight in the night sky.

**A/N: Well that's that, hopefully the next update will come quickly.**


	19. Chapter 18

**A/N: Alright sorry about the long update. Even though I put out that note I still feel bad if I don't update fast. The good news is this chapter is twice as long as normal so enjoy.**

"The Scale of Raknos?" Terrodar asked in as frightened a tone as the younger dragons had ever heard.

Spyro, Cynder, Aegis, and Solris were all standing in the entrance hall of the old guardian's house. Azshea lay sleeping upstairs and none of them wished to disturb her. With that in mind Spyro had pulled the three elder dragons back downstairs to discuss the matters that Blaze had told them about.

"That's what Blaze said, he seemed just as worried. He said it could destroy the planet. Is that really true?" Cynder asked, her body tense, as she awaited the answer.

Cyril nodded. "The scale is the reason that Malefor attacked Warfang before."

"What? I thought he did that just to be destructive." Spyro said as he thought back to the gruesome fight.

"No, most people see it that way because, like Blaze said, very few know about the scale." Cyril paused for a moment as he considered how to best go about explaining the event.

After a moment of silence and anticipation Volteer decided to step in for the absent minded ice dragon. "You see Malefor attacked the city because he knew of the scale's destructive force. He wanted to harness its power for his own. His plan was to use the scale to destroy the planet, and all of its inhabitants. When you stepped in at Warfang and stopped him, he realized that it would be too difficult to retrieve the scale, so he instead resorted to using the destroyer." Volteer explained.

"So in a way the seven are continuing Malefor's work." Aegis said looking back to Solris, who didn't bother to make eye contact with him.

"Just as Astir said they would." Spyro muttered. "This has been their plan all along, to finish what Malefor could not."

"Spyro don't worry about what their plan was, we did what we could. Our focus now should be to get that scale back." Cynder interjected.

"I guess you're right no use in worrying about something that has already happened. Actually, it shouldn't be too difficult, I mean we already killed off Ashe, and we have Solris here that only leaves the other five."

"Do not become overconfident young dragon." Terrodar said stepping in and putting a small damper on the purple dragon's spirits. "The foe you face is still powerful, and I fear that with the scale they have become even stronger."

"What do you mean?" Aegis asked the dragon's ominous words striking a chord with him.

"The scale, while it has the incredibly dangerous power to destroy the planet, also contains other powers all of which haven't been truly confirmed." Cyril explained. "It is said that the scale can give power to its user, raise armies of minions, and even convert others to help it."

"I suppose there isn't anything else to even the odds a little?" Sparx asked. When he got only angry stares in return he sighed. "There's never anything to help the good guys."

"The seven will most likely be headed towards the burned lands, where they can use the scale." Terrodar said ignoring the dragonfly.

"I guess we should follow them?" Spyro asked unsure of the earth dragon's intentions for him.

"On the contrary, I think you stay here for the moment and rest. Perhaps Azshea will awaken by then. I am sure that she would want to see her friends when she opens her eyes." Terrodar said.

Spyro gave the guardian a surprised look as he wasn't used to being told to rest, as it had always been a constant battle before. "Alright, I guess we'll head upstairs then." Spyro said and as he turned he gave a yawn, and only then realized how tired he actually was.

Krista landed lightly on one of the many rooftops that littered Warfang. It had been a day since she had been with Astir when he looked through Solris eyes to find her in Warfang. The blue dragoness tentatively looked around. Despite her usual calmness the dragoness couldn't help but feel jittery. She was back in Warfang; she had been a guardian in the city long enough for people to know who she was. Due to her recent betrayal though she imagined that all of the residents of the city would be on the lookout for her, and if anyone did find her then it wouldn't be a friendly visit, it would most likely result in her gruesome death.

The ice dragoness looked out across the buildings looking for the one that she needed to find. She knew that Solris was most likely still with Spyro and Cynder. She also knew from her previous experiences in Warfang that Spyro and Cynder had been staying at the old guardian's home.

The dragoness scanned the horizon hoping to see something that in her mind would resemble the guardian's house. She had no luck though, and within seconds she was back in the air gliding along slowly, as to not attract any unwanted attention.

The dragoness took small glances in every direction watching dragons fly back and forth, none of them seeming to take any notice of her. After what seemed like forever the dragoness landed again, on yet another rooftop. Once again she looked around tentatively hoping that no one had noticed her. The dragoness knew that she was practically helpless if an entire city turned on her at once.

As the dragoness looked around for the guardian's house she heard the flutter of wings behind her. She didn't turn around as she felt no real need to. If the dragon attacked she would have plenty of time to move, and strike back. Instead, the dragoness peeked down to the alley below her, and found it empty; this discovery brought a smile to her face.

"Hey!" A gruff voice said, and Krista turned around so that she could see the dragon for the first time.

As Krista turned she could see the dragon matched the voice, before her stood a hulking lightning dragon. The massive dragon was at least three times Krista's size. His yellow scales stretched along his body, and looked like they would snap from the tension. The dragon's muscles rippled as he obviously very strong. Two white horns shot straight back from the dragon's head. When Krista's eyes rested on the dragon's face she found two brown eyes staring at her scornfully.

Krista said nothing in reply to the dragon, which brought forth his next comment. "You're Krista, the guardian right?" He asked his eyes still piercing through her.

The dragoness felt her blood run cold, knowing that a fight was ensuing. The fact that she did not answer made the lightning dragon all the angrier.

Electricity jumped along the dragon's scales, and he took a step forward. Krista gulped, and would have taken a step backwards to compensate, but found that she was on the very edge of the building.

"Are you or aren't you?" The dragon asked again.

"Uh, n-no." Krista squeaked, but it was too late to try to mislead the dragon.

"So you lie to me just like you lied to the people of Warfang." The dragon stated, and Krista knew there was no alternative to a fight now. She would have to kill the dragon.

"You know nothing of what is going on." Krista said in a cold voice.

"Oh really, try me!" The dragon yelled before leaping forward.

Krista was hardly surprised by the blunt attack. The ice dragoness pushed herself backwards as the dragon hit her, as to lessen the blow. The two fell down into the small alley that Krista had seen before. Unfortunately, Krista could not get around the dragon and the dragoness slammed into the hard stone, the lightning dragon landing on top of her. The dragoness' vision flickered as she landed. On instinct Krista breathed a thick layer of frost which covered the yellow dragon's eyes, temporarily blinding him.

While the dragon was stunned Krista crawled out from underneath his giant body. The dragoness shook her head trying to rid her vision of the dots that were plaguing it. Seconds later the blue dragoness was knocked into a nearby building. As she fell to the ground she cursed herself for being so careless in the middle of a battle. Krista rolled to the side dodging another attack, before picking herself up off the ground.

When the dragoness finally got her bearings, and locked onto the dragon again her eyes widened in surprise as she saw a stream of lightning headed her way. The electricity struck her in the chest. Krista stood still as the lightning discharged all through her body. Krista simply fell to the ground twitching as the remaining energy coursed through her.

She saw the lightning dragon walk up to her, but was powerless to do anything about it. Gradually, his yellow tail slithered around her pulling her into the air.

As Krista hung limply in front of the dragon's face he spoke again. "I thought that dragons who were a part of the seven were supposed to be strong. Perhaps, I was wrong."

Krista only coughed as the grip around her grew tighter. "Come on then little girl, prove me wrong."

When no response came the yellow dragon gave a sigh before throwing the dragoness down the alley where she skidded to a rough stop on the ground. To the lightning dragon's surprise, the dragoness immediately got back up.

Krista had been in fact faking her injured condition, a rouse to buy her time so that the electricity could drain from her body. The dragoness gave a small smile before launching herself forward. Her wings stretched to catch the air as the dragoness sped over the ground. Just as she reached the yellow dragon she tucked in her leathery wings in near her body, and lowered her head. Krista slammed into the dragon full force knocking him onto his back.

As she landed next to him Krista looked into his eyes with a small smile on her face. "You shouldn't have let go of me."

As the lightning dragon stood up once again Krista fired a few well aimed ice spikes. The sharp projectiles shot forward, and tore through the dragon's wing pinning him to a nearby wall.

The lightning dragon began to roar, but was stopped as Krista slapped him across the face with her tail. As the ice dragoness landed she gave a little smirk making the lightning dragon that much madder. In a matter of seconds the dragon wrenched himself off of the ice spikes, tearing bigger holes in his wings in the process.

As the bulky lightning dragon charged Krista rolled away. Quickly coming to her feet, the dragoness fired two more ice spikes. One of which missed its target, and shattered on the stone floor, the other spike impaled the dragon in the leg severing vital muscles and tendons. The dragon fell to the ground too shocked to make a sound.

Krista took no time in firing three more spikes, one of them piercing another leg, another stabbing directly in the chest, and the third landing splitting through the yellow dragon's neck, leaving him to slowly die on the ground.

"I almost feel sorry for you." The ice dragoness said as she drew near to the dying dragon. His eyes had become wide, and his breathing hoarse as blood slowly filled his lungs.

"You didn't have to die, but I fear that now it is inevitable. You have sealed your own fate."

As the cold words left her mouth Krista noted the last of the dragon's life leave his body. As his eyes glazed over the dragoness jumped into the air, deciding that it was best to leave before anyone found out about the now dead dragon. Surely, the dead dragon would be discovered soon, and then the whole city would be on alert.

In hindsight the dragoness knew that killing the dragon was not the smartest option. Unfortunately, she could still see no alternative to the situation that had befallen her. As Krista was lost in thought she noted a purple blur in her peripheral vision. On instinct the dragoness banked to the side and fell down and out of the sight.

Once she thought it was safe she looked up, and located who she knew to be Spyro and Cynder flying through the air. The two dragons were gliding along overhead at a lazy pace.

Krista smiled to herself. "Perfect." She said before taking off after them.

"I'm fine; by the ancestors leave me alone!" Blaze said forcefully as he pushed the nurse away.

"You still need treatment." The nurse pleaded as she tried to apply more ointment to a wound on the red dragon's side.

Blaze suddenly stopped moving. He turned around with an angry look on his face that caught the nurse's attention. "Stop, now." The dragon said slowly, but forcefully.

"B-but I…you…"

"Look thanks, but I'll be okay, just take the day off or something." Blaze said before turning around, and continuing towards his previous destination.

Thankfully for the fire guardian, the nurse no longer followed him. As the dragon rounded the corner he found Tera standing there with a smile on her face. She had heard the fire guardian talking to the nurse and had decided to wait for him. Blaze looked at her with a blank stare. "What are you smiling about?" The dragon asked.

"Nothing, you just seem like you…changed." Tera said as she watched Blaze pull a loose bandage off of his foreleg. When the white bandage fell to the floor it revealed a deep wound on the dragon's skin.

Upon seeing it the dragoness gave a sigh. "We can't just let that wound go without a bandage, you're already injured enough as it is."

Tera reached down and picked the cloth back up. Blaze who would have normal moved or shied away was too confused, and stunned to move. Tera proceeded to tie the bandage around the dragon's leg. The dragoness finished with the cloth and stepped back to inspect her own work.

Blaze on the other hand still had an astounded look on his face, and when Tera made eye contact the fire dragon only cocked an eyebrow asking the obvious question. The green dragoness felt her face begin to burn as the fire dragon stared at her.

"What? You need to keep your wounds covered." Tera said hoping the fire dragon would believe her excuse.

"Yeah, I can agree with that, but did you have to put the bandage on for me?" Blaze asked.

"Come on let's just go to the meeting." Tera said nodding towards the staircase that they would have to climb.

"Sure, completely ignore what just happened." Blaze said, but began to follow Tera anyway.

"So, Krista was one of the seven." Tera said after a moment of awkward silence.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy to think that the whole time she was here she was actually an enemy." Blaze said.

"What are we going to do; we need a new ice guardian." Tera said looking over to the fire dragon.

"I already have that covered." Blaze said as he worked his way up the stairs.

"What are you talking about?" Tera asked genuinely surprised.

"I mean that I already have a replacement, a good friend of mine who is qualified for the position." Blaze said as if talking to a child.

"What about Srix and I, don't we get any say in the matter?" Tera asked.

"Well, Srix doesn't seem like the talkative type, and I figured I would just save you the trouble." Blaze said lightly.

"Alright, I'll trust that you picked a good dragon for the job, I just hope that he or she doesn't have your attitude. I don't think I could handle two of you." Tera joked.

"Ha ha." Blaze said sarcastically while eyeing the smiling dragoness. "Luckily for you, he won't be around very much."

Tera's smile suddenly vanished, and it was replaced by a look of curiosity. Just as she was about to ask her question though Blaze smiled at her and made a 'shhh' sound, before proceeding to open the door that lead to the meeting hall. Tera snapped her mouth shut, and gave the red dragon a pouting look which only made Blaze smile.

The two dragons walked into the room to find that all the others were already present. The guardians and members of other dragon cities around the world had gathered at Blaze's request.

"Ah Tera, Blaze how good of you to join us, even if you are late." Srix said, from across the room drawing everyone's attention.

"My apologies Srix, Blaze was taking longer than usual with the stairs." Tera said as she walked across the room. The dragoness looked back to the fire guardian with a smile only to find him shaking his head a smile on his face.

As Blaze began his trek across the room he began to talk. "Please excuse my lateness everyone. I am terribly sorry, as I know that I have called you all here on very short notice. I feel that you should all here this and be informed. A group known as the seven dragons of darkness have emerged from the ashes of Malefor's defeat. This group is dead set on achieving what Malefor failed to achieve. They-

"I heard that these seven are no older than teenagers, how can such young dragons be such a great nuisance?" One dragon yelled interrupting Blaze midsentence.

"If you will remember Cynder was a child when she wreaked havoc upon the world. This group, I assure you are harmful to all of us. Just a few days ago they attacked me; they have even managed to best Spyro and his friends before." Blaze explained as he reached the end of the hall and turned to face the rest of his audience.

"If they can defeat a purple dragon then what hope do we have?" Another dragon asked in dismay.

"I have no answer to that question. I do know that we must not rush off against them, if we do I can only see more lives being taken, not to mention that the seven will become riled and most likely even more violent than they already are."

"Then what do we do?" Yet another dragon asked, and with his question the whole room became filled with questions.

Suddenly, a burst of fire lit up the room, and every dragon fell silent. "Now, if you'll listen I'll tell you what you can do." The dragon said gruffly. "Go back to your homes, and warn your people. Most of the seven are black, but a few look just like us. Watch for anything suspicious, and if you find one of them stop them at all costs."

The red dragon paused, and looked around the room at the many eyes that were focused on him. "I know that this isn't really much help, and I am sorry. Up until now I have taken my job as guardian too lightly. Now I will do everything in my power to stop this menace. As most of you probably know Krista the ice guardian, up until recently, has betrayed us. She is one of the seven, and she somehow managed to infiltrate our society. Obviously, she is no longer the guardian of ice. So now I would like to introduce the new guardian. My good friend Icryious has been volunteered to fill the open position."

When the fire guardian had finished his introduction another dragon stepped forward. Tera jumped as the dragon walked up from behind her. She hadn't even noticed him before. The dragon had pointed sky blue scales. His black talons clicked on the floor as he walked forward. Jet black horns poked out from the back of his skull each of them looking gnarled and chipped in a few places.

When the dragon reached a position beside Blaze he stopped, and looked at the fire guardian with his golden eyes. Blaze only nodded bidding the dragon to continue.

"I am Icryious, I am pleased to accept this position as a guardian, and hopefully I will prove myself worthy. As you all know the seven dragons of darkness plague us, for most of the time that we have known of their existence Spyro, and his friends have been fighting against them. While they fight though, we are left in the dark; it is time for this to end. Starting tomorrow morning I will be accompanying them wherever they go, and informing Blaze as to what is happening." Upon saying this, the new ice guardian stepped down from his position, and headed towards the door as the room burst into an uproar.

"So he does have your attitude." Tera said as she watched the dragon leave the room.

Blaze only smirked, he had no idea that Icryious planned to follow Spyro, but as the dragon considered everything that had happened he wished that he had thought of it earlier.

Spyro cracked his eye open letting the light of the morning in. After a moment his other eye opened as well. The dragon looked about the room he was laying in. He still felt Cynder's warmth next to him and slowly the dragon turned his head to see the black dragoness.

When his eyes fell on her the purple dragon was surprised to see that her eyes were open, although only slightly. Spyro narrowed his eyes questioningly, hoping that the dragoness would see him. Luckily, Cynder did in fact see the purple dragon's eyes move. The dragoness quickly moved a paw that was close to her mouth, and put a claw to her lips before lowering it back to the ground slowly. The dragoness nodded her head across the room. Spyro followed the signal to see Azshea laying on the same set of pillows she had been on for the whole day. The odd part about the scene was that sitting inches from her was another dragon. Spyro almost got up, but as his vision focused he realized that the dragon was Aegis. The purple dragon's eyes darted back to the black dragoness beside him, but Cynder only motioned for him to watch silently.

"Why haven't you woken up yet?" Aegis asked sadly, the words startling both Spyro and Cynder.

"Is the corruption really that bad?" The lightning dragon continued, but moments later he was shaking his head as if the idea was stupid. "Nah, I've seen you go through worse than a few crystals. I know you can come back from this…you have to come back from this."

The statement struck Spyro. What crystals was he talking about? As far as Spyro knew no crystals had been involved with Azshea's corruption. Spyro had not actually seen the ceremony that had been performed on Azshea but neither had Aegis seen it, and therefore should have no idea about what had happened.

"You have to make it through this Azshea; if you don't then I don't know what I'll do. I already lost my brother to the darkness, and I won't lose you too." The lightning dragon paused for a moment, pondering what he should do or say next. Aegis knew that if anyone saw him, he would probably look insane, but he didn't care. "Azshea do you remember the story I was telling you a while back, the story of my past?" The lightning dragon asked. He knew that the dragoness wouldn't respond seeing as she was asleep, so he just continued to speak. "Azshea last time I told you about my past I left off just after Reave had gotten the idea to kill Malefor. Like I said he was starting to lose it, and that alone worried me…"

Aegis ducked underneath his older brother's legs, darting back and forth avoiding the larger dragon's paws. The younger dragon was so distracted by his own little game that he didn't notice his older brother's annoyance at the situation.

"Aegis stop!" Reave snapped. The ice dragon's sharp tone made the small lightning dragon stop in his tracks. Aegis hung his head, and continued to walk alongside his brother. The lightning dragon had long ago grown tired of the constant movement. Ever since that day that Reave had gotten the idea to kill Malefor the two dragons had been moving day in and day out. The young dragon was tired, and didn't really know how much more his little legs could handle.

"Reave, can't we stop for a little bit?" The yellow dragon pleaded hoping that his brother would say yes.

"No, we can't stop anymore today Aegis. We have stopped too much already." The ice dragon said without looking down at his brother.

"But-

"No, look do you ever want to avenge our parents?" The ice dragon asked, his voice raising. "I am giving us the chance to get back at the one who killed them! There is no time for your silly games when we have work to do!"

Reave continued to walk on, but Aegis slowly came to a halt, his whole body quivering as he had never seen his brother be so determined or angry in his life. Reave seeming to hear the dragon stop walking, and he instantly turned on his paw, and headed back towards his little brother. The ice dragon came up next to his brother, who was standing still, and staring into nothingness.

Reave gave a sigh, and leaned down to nudge the little yellow dragon with his snout. The touch roused Aegis from his thoughts, and he looked to his brother who was lying on his stomach in order to be eye level with the young golden dragon.

"Look Aegis, maybe I am letting this whole thing go to my head. The idea of killing Malefor no matter how gruesome would better the whole world. Not to mention it would avenge our parents. I know that I've been making you go a bit faster lately, but we are almost there. Look." With the final word Reave pointed a single sharp claw upwards toward a large floating fortress. After a moment the dragon looked back to his brother. "Come on you can ride on my back." He said. Aegis wasn't quite sure about any of it, but he just nodded and pulled himself up onto his brother's back.

Within seconds Reave was soaring through the air with Aegis on his back, the small lightning dragon looking all around for any source of danger. After a moment the golden scaled dragon gasped when he saw flying beasts. From afar they looked like dragons, but even Aegis at such a young age knew better than to believe that other dragons were near them. Especially, since they had not seen another dragon in days.

"Reave look out!" The dragon yelled as he pulled on his brother's horns, rotating the ice dragon's head so that he too could see Malefor's flying minions. The ice dragon growled as he saw the beasts grow closer to him. The dragon counted three total, more than enough to cause trouble for them.

"Hold on." Reave said before beating his wings a few extra times in order to speed himself up, and send himself straight towards the flying menaces. As they grew close Reave let out a barrage of ice spikes. The frozen spears flew through the air, but only one of the beasts was impaled.

As the skewered creature fell back down to earth one of the other beasts slammed into Reave knocking the dragon back through the air while flipping him so that Reave's back faced the ground, as Reave flipped around Aegis hung on to the ice dragon's horns to keep himself from plunging down to the ground. Although he was still hanging on the dragon's little amount of strength was starting to waver.

Reave grappled with the beast, whose claws and exceptionally large maw were working exceptionally fast to end the ice dragon's life. Reave thought quickly, and then pushed both of the creatures arms to its sides to keep it from scratching him. On instinct the dragon jerked his head to the left as the fiend snapped at his face. Moments later Reave broke the thing's neck and let it fall down away from him. The ice dragon laughed as he leveled back out. "These guys aren't so tough. Right?" A chill went down Reave's spine as he got no response. "Aegis?" He asked his voice full of worry when he still got no answer. It was then that the dragon suddenly realized there was no extra weight on his back. Reave's head jolted downwards, and there he saw his little brother tumbling towards the ground.

Aegis fell through the air his small wings not being enough to stop his fall. There was a sudden screech, and the lightning dragon's head turned to examine the frightful sound. What Aegis saw was the third creature, speeding towards him. The small dragon tucked his body in, and as the creature flew past him, missing only by centimeters, the dragon latched on with his small, but sharp claws. The beast let out another screech as it felt Aegis' talons dig into its flesh. Unfortunately, for the lightning dragon that was as much as he could do. It was taking all his effort just to stay latched onto the monster.

The creature writhed in fury as it tried to shake the young dragon from its back, but no matter how hard it tried it could not make the little dragon budge. From above there was a mighty roar as Reave plunged downward. As the dragon reached them he leveled out next to the beast, and before it could even react Reave breathed a wave of frost freezing the thing's head. The ice dragon's claw followed the devastating breath attack, smashing through the frozen skin, shattering a portion of the beast's body and killing it. As it died Aegis jumped the small gap between the dead monster and his brother landing shakily on his Reave's back.

"Are you okay?" Reave asked concern obvious in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm okay just a little shaken. I'm not used to falling hundreds of feet through the air." Aegis said sarcastically. The lightning dragon's little heart was actually beating abnormally fast, and he was still fearing for his life. Aegis had never seen such fights before, and he wished he never had to see them again.

"Alright well let's go, we can't turn back now." Reave said before flying back towards the massive floating citadel.

"Wait! Reave we can turn back." Aegis pleaded. "We don't have to do this Reave, we can just leave and-and never come back." The little dragon stuttered.

"No, we can't." Reave said his voice steady. "We have to continue Aegis, for the betterment of this world. I will kill Malefor and you will be there when I do. Don't worry Aegis I'll keep you safe I promise."

That was the end of the argument. Aegis had no other real points to bring up. He could not just leave his brother now; it was much too dangerous, although the small yellow dragon wondered how much help he would actually be in a fight with a dragon that was supposedly more powerful than anyone else on the planet.

The two dragons landed on the rock in front of the entrance to the fortress. Two large doors stood as the entrance to the dark lair. To both dragons surprise one of them was open just a crack, allowing both of them passage. Only Aegis noted how suspicious this was, but as his brother disappeared into the darkness within he had no choice but to follow. Inside the room it was pitch black, the only source of light coming from the opening in the doorway.

"Reave lets go back, it isn't safe here." Aegis said in a whisper, which unfortunately still echoed throughout the room. The dragon stilled hoped against hope that he could get his brother to reconsider this idea before it was too late.

"No, for the last time we are not going back!" Reave screamed finally losing what little patience he had left..

"Well, well little boy you should listen to him he obviously has the brains." A deep voice said suddenly, sending chills down both dragons' spines.

Suddenly, small torches were lit with fire. The fire though was not a red but a black and purple one. The eerie glow from the torches lit up the room slowly, and little by little the dragons could see the entire room that they now stood in.

They stood at the entrance to a long grand hall. On either side of them were pillars that went all the way down the room in a line. On each side were holes in the stone wall that served as doors leading off towards various other rooms. The whole place was quite macabre. At the end of the hall sitting on an elevated platform, that had dark crystals cluttered around it, was a large menacing looking dragon.

"Malefor." Reave growled angrily.

"Ah, I feel so ashamed you know me and yet I know nothing of you." Malefor said sarcastically. "Do tell me why you have both traveled so far to find me?"

"You killed our parents, and now I'm going to do the same to you!" Reave shouted before charging across the hall.

"Did I? I am sorry I have killed so many, that I lost track a long time ago." Malefor said only heightening the dragon's rage.

As Reave neared the dragon Malefor whipped his tail out slapping the ice dragon across the room. Reave slammed into a wall, but within seconds he was back on his feet. This time he fired several ice spikes at the large dragon.

Malefor neither moved or flinched as the spikes hit his skin before shattering. Reave's jaw dropped as the dragon just laughed at him. "My dear boy, I am afraid you and you little friend have come up here only to find death. If you thought that you could just appear up here and kill me, then you are truly stupid."

At the comment the ice dragon gave a furious roar, and charged forth once again. Malefor sighed as he was already tired on the little game he was playing. Once Reave was close enough Malefor swept his paw out hoping to slash or maybe grab the dragon. To his surprise Reave leapt over his swipe, and spun in midair before slamming his tail down on the large dragon's forehead, stunning him.

Reave landed on the ground with a grin on his face, as Malefor rubbed his head the said. "You'll pay for that child."

"Oh, really what are you going to do?" Reave asked overconfident from the small victory.

"More than you ever thought possible little one." Malefor said. Almost before the words left his mouth the giant dragon let loose a roar, and suddenly the stones around Reave rose up sealing the ice dragon off inside. Then faster than either of the younger dragons thought possible Malefor leapt atop the stones, and breathed a wave of white hot fire into the small area. The flames gathered inside the stone singing everything inside, turning the rock jet black and in some places causing it to crumble.

After almost a minute of the scorching heat Malefor stopped to inspect his work. To the dragon's surprise, although he tried not to show it, he found Reave panting in the middle of the stone circle with only a few burn marks.

"How did you survive?" Malefor asked stunned, for he thought such a young dragon could never endure such an attack.

"I control ice I used my element to keep the fire at bay; maybe you were the one without the brains." Reave said as he regained his breath. The ice dragon had in fact kept up a constant barrier of cold to shield himself from the heat, although he could feel how much it had drained him.

Malefor growled at the insult. The thought of a mere child besting him made his blood boil, but it also sparked an idea in his mind. While Malefor was distracted Reave was able to jump out of the ring of stone, as he flew by Malefor deftly lifted a paw, and struck the ice dragon. The force of the blow sent Reave tumbling through the air before smashing into a pillar of stone. The force of the impact shattered the grey column, and Reave fell to the ground debris landing pelting his body, as he grasped at the last strands of consciousness Reave saw Malefor approach him. As Reave lay on the ground Malefor summoned the energy in his body. A shiver went down the dark dragon's spine as he fired a bolt of lightning which hit Reave head on knocking him out.

Within seconds the dark dragon had Reave in his grasp, and he carried the unconscious dragon back up to the platform where he had originally been. Aegis who had seen all of the events that had transpired watched in horror as his brother was taken away.

Malefor reached the platform and with it the dark crystals. The dragon deftly pulled one out of the cluster, and smashed it to pieces on the floor. The large dragon proceeded to collect the pieces placing them in a pile on the ground. As he picked up the last of the shards he felt a bump on his hind leg. The dragon turned slowly to look at Aegis who was standing there, visibly quaking out of fear or anger the dragon did not know.

"I had forgotten all about you." Malefor said. "I guess you want to save your friend, but I am sorry you cannot." Malefor stomped the ground with his paw, and spikes of earth came out of the ground trapping the small dragon inside, the sharp ends of the earth missing Aegis' body by mere inches.

"Now stay quiet while I do my work on your friend here." Malefor said, the dragon then paused for a moment as he looked between Aegis and Reave. "Oh I see now, as I should have before. You two are brothers. Ha, well I hope you don't mind what I'm about to do to him." Malefor said with a laugh which only made Aegis struggle against the earth futilely. Malefor dropped Reave onto the ground by the purple crystals. As the dark dragon began to mutter strange sayings Aegis struggled with the earth spikes that had trapped him. The lightning dragon watched in horror as Reave lay unconscious Malefor looming over him. The large tyrant dragon picked up almost all of the purple crystals that lay on the ground as he continued to say strange phrases.

All Aegis saw was his brother about to be killed. The prospect sent multiple chills down the dragon's spine. Aegis had already lost his parents he would not lose his brother too. As Malefor picked up the crystals Aegis felt a little bit of his sanity leave him, he couldn't lose another member of his family, he would not allow it.

"No!" The dragon screamed his element reacting with his anger, and lightning exploded from his body, shattering the earth that had covered him.

Aegis sprinted forward towards Malefor, slamming into him with as much force as he could muster, just as the dark dragon was throwing the purple crystals. The crystals mostly showered Reave, but a few of them bored into Aegis' body as well. Aegis screamed in pain as he felt his skin being shredded, and dark energy flooding into his body. Reave on the other hand only stayed unconscious. The crystals did their deadly work corrupting the dragon.

"Now then time to end your young and pitiful life." Malefor said. The large dragon proceeded towards Aegis who could hardly stand, and looked as if the slightest breeze would knock him over. Suddenly, Malefor stopped in his tracks. "Perhaps it would be better if we do this differently."

As if on cue Reave's body exploded in dark fire. As damaging as it looked the fire seemed to not bother the dragon. His eyes had also turned stark white, the blank orbs staring straight at Aegis.

"No." The lightning dragon said. "No Reave, no this can't be happening." The dragon groaned as he backed away from his brother.

"Reave is it? Well then Reave, kill your little bother, to prove that you are actually worthy of joining us." Malefor said. As the words left his mouth Reave lunged forward for the small lightning dragon. Aegis didn't move he just took the blow, and was tackled across the hall. When they stopped moving Aegis had a multitude of cuts lining his body.

Aegis looked up at Reave with tears in his eyes. "No Reave, you were all I had. What will I do now?"

Reave didn't respond he only grabbed the little dragon by the neck and tossed out of the hallway. The lightning dragon rolled on the ground before getting to his feet. Reave approached his brother his new appearance frightening the dragon. "Reave you don't have to do this, you don't have to listen to him. Think about who it is. It's Malefor." When there was no change in the ice dragon's visage Aegis continued. "He killed our parents!"

The last statement made Reave falter, but a second later he moved towards the lightning dragon again. Aegis hung his head in sadness, finally seeing that his efforts were futile. "Kill me then." The lightning dragon said his tone somber.

"N-no." Reave said when he finally got close to his little brother. The words shocked the little lightning dragon, and he looked up with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "I-I won't ki-kill you. Leave h-here Aegis…go now."

"But, you are here." Aegis reasoned, even though he already knew his brother's response.

"I-It's too la-late for me. You must g-go and…stop Malefor." Reave stuttered.

"No, I won't just leave you here."

"Leave now!" The ice dragon roared before spinning around, and slamming his tail into Aegis sending the golden dragon over the edge. Aegis glided down his small wings hardly supporting him. The dragon didn't look back as he didn't have the heart to see his brother in such a condition.

"After that I just lived by myself. I waited hoping to hear something about Reave, but nothing ever came until recently." Aegis said tears welling in his eyes.

Spyro and Cynder looked at each other as silence fell over the room. The two dragons had quietly listened to Aegis' story, and each was stunned by it. They had always been curious about Aegis' past but never thought it would be so dark.

"Telling my past wasn't really the point of that though. If you remember, Azshea, I got hit by those crystals too. The point is that I made it through the corruption. I know you can too. That's why you have to wake up." The lightning dragon said before giving the unconscious dragoness a light kiss.

Spyro and Cynder almost jumped up from their spots when the dragon leaned down to kiss Azshea. They had both suspected Aegis of liking Azshea, but this confirmed their theories. The two dragons sat still watching and waiting for Aegis to do something else. To their surprise the next movement in the room came not from Aegis, but from a different dragon instead. An ice dragon flew through the window landing inside the room making Aegis jump to his feet a growl resonating from his mouth.

The ice dragon didn't move but Spyro and Cynder did. The two dragons snapped to their feet, and both Aegis and the ice dragon looked their way. It occurred to Spyro that they might have acted a bit too quickly, especially since they were supposedly asleep.

"Who are you?" Aegis asked as he stared at Spyro who was trying hard to avoid the lightning dragon's eyes.

"I am Icryious, sorry for the intrusion, but I assumed that you would be up by now." The ice dragon said.

It was then that Spyro noted how late it actually was. He looked out the window behind Icryious, and saw the sun was in the sky indicating that it was almost midday; Aegis' story must have been longer than they thought. "Nice to meet you Icryious, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?" The purple dragon asked, bringing his attention back to the newcomer.

"Ah I forgot I am the new ice guardian, if you remember Krista was one of the seven. I replaced her." The ice dragon explained quickly.

"Okay, and so you are here because…" Cynder trailed off waiting for the ice dragon to answer.

"I am here because I have decided that you all need to be watched." The dragon said bringing curious looks from everyone in the room.

"What?" Spyro asked somewhat offended by the comment.

"You four dragons have seen, and fought with the seven dragons of darkness more than anyone else. While you may think that you can handle this situation on your own, I am here to tell you that you cannot. You may have defeated Malefor, but this battle is something entirely different." The ice dragon explained.

"And if we refuse to allow you to follow us?" Spyro asked coking his head to the side.

Icryious laughed. "You cannot refuse, Spyro." The dragon answered bluntly.

"So what, did Blaze put you up to this?" Aegis asked. "I knew that dragon would never change."

"No, on the contrary I actually decided to do this on my own. The rest of the world needs to know what's going on, and it seems that you all have the answers."

"Fine, I just hope you're good at fighting, or else you won't last too long around us." Spyro said. Icryious gave the dragon an inquisitive look as he didn't understand. "Trust me, it seems like every day we are fighting some new evil. How do you think Azshea got in that shape?" Spyro asked as he nodded his head to the still sleeping red dragoness.

Icryious studied the dragoness before nodding. "Don't worry I can hold my own."

"Good, then welcome to the group." Spyro said flatly.

"Right, now that the introductions are over, where is she?" Icryious asked looking around the room.

"Who?" Cynder asked having a vague idea of who the dragon was looking for.

"The dark dragoness that you captured." Icryious said bluntly.

None of the dragons responded right away. They had only just met this dragon, and all of them wondered what his intentions were. Aegis was about to speak up when there was a loud yawn from across the room. Solris emerged from behind some pillows, where she had been temporarily obscured from the others vision.

"You." Icryious said before crossing the room.

Solris, who was busy stretching hadn't even noticed the dragon. The dragoness stretched out her body popping her spine, and loosening her body. As she finally stood straight up she saw the ice dragon standing mere inches in front of her. The black dragoness jumped when she saw the dragon.

"Wh-Who are you?" Solris asked trying to regain her composure.

"I am Icryious, and I will be traveling with you for a while. I warn you now monster, watch your step, one wrong move, and I will not hesitate to end your life. I already wonder why they have let you live this long."

The ice dragon moved away as quickly as he had confronted the dragoness. Solris stood still as she tried to process what had just happened, but to no avail.

"So what now?" Icryious asked.

"Now we wait, we need to make sure Azshea is okay, before we do anything." Spyro said.

"But the seven have the Scale of Raknos, how can we just wait around for someone when they have the power to end the world?" Icryious asked looking at the dragon as if he was stupid.

"Because, Spyro knows more about these dragons than you do." Solris said surprising everyone in the room. "They will wait because they crave the challenge. It may sound dumb but I can guarantee they will give us a little bit of time in the hopes of getting a chance to kill us."

Icryious only turned away from the dragoness, not wanting to be taught a lesson by someone of her stature.

Just as the room fell silent there was a sudden groan and all eyes turned to Azshea, who tossed and turned on the pillow she was laying on. As the dragoness moved all of the other dragons, besides Solris, quickly moved to get a closer look at her.

After several moments the dragoness opened her eyes. She blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted to the light. Azshea looked around at the faces above her each of them making her feel uncomfortable.

"Hi, everyone." She said in groggy tone.

"Are you feeling alright?" Aegis asked, and the dragoness nodded slowly, before pushing herself into a sitting position.

"Don't go too fast." Aegis said as he helped to steady the dragoness.

"I'm fine, but what happened?" The dragoness asked moving a paw to rub her head.

"You don't remember?" Spyro asked.

The dragoness shook her head slowly. "What did I miss?"

"Uhh…" The purple dragon fumbled looking for some way to explain what had happened, how would someone break it to her that her mother had been killed, not to mention killed by one of the dragons in the room.

As all of the dragons tried to decide what to say, Solris walked up next to Spyro, to see what the commotion was about.

Azshea noted the dragoness, and suddenly her visage turned to one of anger. As if the very sight of the dragoness brought all of her memories back. "You killed my mother didn't you?"

"What? Me?" Solris asked looking to the other dragons with wide eyes, hoping that someone would tell her what to say.

"Yes, you." Azshea said. The dragoness turned to Spyro. "You guys came to get me, did she or didn't she kill Ashe?"

"Well, I guess…" Spyro trailed off as he didn't want to condemn anyone.

"So she did." The dragoness said her eyes narrowing sinisterly.

"Azshea you have to understand. Ashe was one of the seven, she-

"No shut up!" Azshea said interrupting the dragoness.

"I saved your life." Solris said as she backed away from the dragoness.

"You killed my mother!" The red dragoness screamed before leaping at Solris.

The red dragoness tackled Solris and the two rolled around the room, Azshea trying as hard as she could to rip out Solris heart. Solris on the other hand was doing no more than dodging what blows she could, the dragoness wouldn't feel right if she struck back, especially since she knew that Azshea's anger was just misdirected.

When Solris found a chance she rolled away from the frenzied fire dragoness. In desperation to at least bring the stalemate to the fight, Solris dived off the balcony and down into the street below. The sight of the black dragoness sent all or the other dragons running. Solris ignored them, and kept her eyes fixed on the window that she had gone through, as she expected Azshea to follow her at any second.

To the black dragoness' surprise she saw Azshea leap out the window followed by Spyro, Cynder, Aegis, and Icryious. The other dragons seemed to be trying to stop the red dragoness.

Azshea landed on the ground in front of Solris, and dropped into a ready stance as she prepared to fight. The other dragons landed in a circle hoping to contain, and stop the frenzied red dragoness.

"Azshea what are you doing?' Spyro asked.

"This dragoness killed my mother, she deserves to die as well!" Azshea said angrily as she didn't move her eyes from Solris.

"She saved your life; Ashe was trying to kill you." Cynder explained.

"So that's it huh? All of you are siding with this dragoness over me?" Azshea asked. "Even after all the terrible things she has done?"

Solris flinched at the last comment but did not say anything. The dragoness had been insulted many times and at this point she did not care.

"Azshea, please stop. You don't have to do this." Aegis said stepping forward until he was standing next to the dragoness. "Just come back inside with us."

Azshea's head sank as did her emotions. The dragoness felt defeated and she herself even felt as though she should stop, but something in the back of her mind told her to her to not give in and to continue fighting.

"No." The dragoness said.

"What? Why?" Aegis asked surprised and worried at the same time.

"I won't come with you. Not until this dragoness is dead!" Azshea hissed. Suddenly, the dragoness' scales turned a darker shade of red. Her usually vibrant wings turned jet black, and her eyes became slits.

"No, not you too." Aegis said backing away a few steps as images of his brother came back to him. Azshea suddenly turned on the yellow dragon, and rammed him with her horns. Despite having almost no force behind the blow Aegis left the ground, and hit a nearby building before crumpling on the hard ground. Almost quicker than any of the others could register Azshea spat black fire which seemed to engulf Spyro, Cynder, and Icryious. With the other dragons out of the way Azshea turned her attention back to Solris.

Solris backed away from the corrupted looking dragoness. Solris didn't know what had happened, one second Azshea was normal and the next she looked like she was corrupted. Perhaps the crystals had actually worked and it had just taken some time for this to set in.

With unnatural speed Azshea darted forward, and spun around slamming her tail into Solris chest. The black dragoness spat blood from the impact. Within seconds Solris was tumbling through the air. The dragoness watched as Azshea, and the others grew smaller. Suddenly, the dragoness felt her back smash into a hard object. Solris shattered both walls of an abandoned house before landing hard on the stone ground as she smaller chips of stone pelted her back.

The black dragoness coughed hard spitting up a glob of blood as she tried to regain her senses. Solris stumbled to her feet, as she tried to figure out what had just happened. She hardly had time to think though as there was a roar overhead.

Solris looked up expecting to see Azshea, but instead saw another familiar face. Krista landed near to the dragoness and walked over to her.

"Hello Solris. It's been a while, and you don't look so good." The blue dragoness said looking the dragoness up and down.

"Krista, what do you want?" Solris asked not pleased to see the dragoness.

"Wow, already you have forgotten your manners, spending time with these dragons is having a bad effect on you." Krista mocked.

"How did you-

"I've been watching you for a few days now Solris. I know what you have been doing, and so does Astir, or did you forget about the necklace he wears?" The dragoness asked with a smile.

"What do you want Krista?" Solris growled threateningly. The threat though was empty as Solris knew she was too dazed to fight.

"Nothing, I only came to remind you of who you are." Krista said nonchalantly.

Solris looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"You are one of us Solris, one of the seven. Do not get lost out here amongst the trash of this planet." Krista explained.

"I'm not one of the seven; I don't want to help you. I want to help Spyro!" The dragoness said loudly.

"That isn't your choice to make now is it? If I remember correctly Astir controls your destiny now. Perhaps this lesson can't be taught with words." Krista said sinisterly.

The ice dragoness breathed a cloud of frost obscuring Solris vision. When the cloud dispersed a moment later Krista was no wear to be found. Seconds later Solris found herself on the ground rolling around as Krista tore into her with her claws. The ice dragoness wasted no time in cutting deep into the dragoness' chest leaving two large slash marks. Solris fell on the ground as the wounds began to bleed. As she laid there Krista stood above her.

"Don't forget who you are." Krista said before taking flight.

Solris lay on the ground watching her leave. The dragoness felt pain cover her entire body as she lay on the ground wondering if she would live long enough to see the sun set.

**A/N: Alrgith hopefully that was worth the wait and hopefully I'll update faster.**


	20. Chapter 19

9

**A/N: Wow this took forever, I swear I wrote out most of this chapter and then struggled with the last few pages for days. Well, it's done now so enjoy.**

Aegis leapt through the air. The golden dragon sailed right for Azshea. The dragoness' scales were still a darker hue of red than normal, and the color had disappeared from her eyes, leaving milky white orbs. The dragoness didn't notice the golden dragon until it was too late, as her attention had been focused on Solris, whom she had just sent away with a heavy blow.

Aegis tackled the dragoness, sending both of them rolling on the ground, each clawing at the other, with deadly swipes. Aegis however made the painful discovery of just how strong the dragoness had become. Azshea's claws dug deeper into his flesh sending waves of pain up his body.

Upon feeling her strength and realizing that the dragoness was much too powerful for him to handle Aegis sprung away from her and began to concentrate as he draw energy into his own body.

"What's the matter Aegis? Are you not willing to hurt me?" The crimson dragoness asked in a twisted voice that had been morphed by the dark energy that had taken control of her body.

Aegis had no response for the dragoness as he continued to gather energy, he could already feel the electricity swirl around his body. He knew that soon he would be able to attack.

"Hmm…nothing to say, I see? Well you always were a quiet one, but now it is over, you will perish here and now." Azshea hissed as she leapt forward. The dragoness smashed into Aegis knocking him back to the ground, but failing to make him lose his concentration.

Upon knocking Aegis over Azshea noted that the golden dragon had closed his eyes. She looked at him with a smirk. "Don't want to see the end? Don't worry I'll make it quick." The dragoness said devilishly.

Right after she said the words Azshea's paw snapped up, and came back down aiming to kill. Aegis' eyes snapped open, and a surge of electricity flowed through his body. Immediately, a large pulse of energy branched out from Aegis' body, and connected with Azshea sending her into a short flight before landing on the ground unceremoniously. The dragoness twitched involuntarily as she lay on the ground, her scales still showing their corrupted color although it seemed slightly diminished now.

Aegis was laying on the ground, breathing heavily and looking at the dragoness with a sad face when he heard a deafening roar off to his right. The dragon quickly turned his head to focus on the roar, for the first time since they had all begun fighting; Aegis noticed black fire roaring right next to him. The dark flames continued to burn despite the lack of fuel.

Suddenly, there was a blast of wind, and the odd colored fire dispersed sending cinders all around, a few of which fell on Aegis, but he took no note of them as they quickly burned anyway. The golden dragon looked to where the center of the fire had been to find Spyro, Cynder, and Icryious. All three dragons had burn marks on their bodies, and Aegis even heard a few pops as the dragon's scales sizzled from the excessive heat.

Spyro felt his body burning with heat, and try as might to ignore it he couldn't keep his mind off of the pain, it took all of his willpower just to keep from screaming. The dragon stood perfectly still occasionally trying to move his body but finding that it pained him too much.

The dragon had to stop himself from flinching when he felt the temperature around him drop below freezing. The purple dragon let out a sigh of relief as he felt his body cool off. He heard the same sound from Cynder, and realized that she too had felt the temperature change. Spyro turned his head slowly and cautiously, not wanting to bring anymore pain upon his wounded form. To his surprise he felt almost no pain, the dragon turned to see Cynder, her eyes were closed as she was caught up in the feeling of the cool atmosphere. Looking past the black dragoness Spyro saw Icryious; the new ice dragon was obviously the cause of the sudden drop in temperature. The purple dragon could see that he was concentrating, and using his energy to create a temporary environment of cold.

As Spyro watched the dragon gasped, and the field of cold abruptly ended. The change was so sudden that Cynder's eyes snapped open in surprise, and she looked around for an explanation.

"Sorry, that was as long as if could hold it for." The dragon said panting from the exertion.

"Don't worry about it, you did what you could, and I don't know about Cynder, but I feel a lot better." The purple dragon said with a smile.

"Hey!" All of the dragons looked to Aegis in surprise wondering why he had raised his voice. "It's great that your fine, but if you haven't noticed Azshea is hurt and Solris is missing."

"Solris…" Cynder said looking around. "Does anyone know what happened to her?"

"I believe she was thrown that way." Aegis said as he picked himself up off the ground. The golden dragon pointed a lone claw towards where he had last seen Solris. "Most likely she has fled, to return to the other dark dragons." The yellow dragon said.

"I'll go look for her." Cynder said as she beat her wings and became airborne.

"Wait Cynder…" Spyro said as the dragoness took to the air. The purple dragon lost his momentum almost as it began though, as the dragoness was either out of hearing range or just not listening.

"Don't worry about her. She'll be fine." Aegis said as he walked towards Azshea who was still lying on the ground and barely moving.

"What, why shouldn't I? She is going to find Solris by herself." Spyro said angrily.

"You have known Cynder for a while now; don't you think that you should trust her to handle herself?" Aegis asked giving Spyro a peculiar look.

"But, she…"

"She's fine. Also I would think that you would trust Solris a little too. The whole time she's been here she hasn't made one move to attack us. Hell, she even helped us a little. That dragoness isn't like the others." Aegis explained. "Maybe I was wrong to say that she would run off just now." When he turned his head to Spyro he saw that the purple dragon was still not totally convinced. "Besides, when she finds Solris, and she will, that dragoness will be in no condition to fight."

Spyro looked at the dragon curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I saw what happened to Solris. Azshea hit her so hard that she went through at least one building; I wouldn't be surprised if she broke through a few more another after that. Solris won't be in any position to fight, trust me, for all we know she could already be dead."

Solris stumbled to her feet. The dragoness had already been injured, and now thanks to Krista she had two fairly large wounds on her chest that were bleeding out. Due to those injuries she felt even more woozy and tired. The dragoness staggered forward trying to figure out how to get back to the others. She wasn't exactly sure why she wanted to go back to the ones who had captured her, but at this point her mind wasn't thinking in terms of logic, it was thinking of survival alone.

As Solris hobbled forward her mind began to wander. She couldn't help but think about her current predicament. Perhaps she was going back to Spyro, and the others for a reason. The dragoness had been one of the seven, and perhaps she still was. Although, she had always felt that somehow she was different. The other members of the seven dragons of darkness were cruel and sadistic, those who would destroy any and all in their path. Solris on the other hand, was living with the only dragons who had dared to oppose them. The dragoness wasn't like the others, she already knew that, but the question that had befallen Solris was should she even associate herself with them. If she didn't side with the seven though who would she side with. Spyro and his friends only cared for the information that she could give them, but not her true self.

As the dragoness contemplated her complex feelings for the situation she didn't notice the sound of beating wings. It wasn't until Cynder fluttered down next to the dragoness that Solris bothered to lift her head and make eye contact. Even so Solris didn't say a word she just continued to slowly move one paw in front the other.

Cynder didn't speak either; mostly because she was too busy examining the horrible wounds that had been dealt to the dragoness. There were cuts and bruises that were already all over her body. Her wings were torn in places, and Cynder didn't doubt if she had a broken bone or two, but she couldn't tell for sure. Most noticeable were the two longs slashes on the dark dragoness' chest. The cuts were bleeding, and had covered the front of Solris' body with blood.

"Solris where did you get those cuts?" Cynder asked worriedly as she eyed the dragoness.

"Why would you care?" Solris asked her voice harsh.

"What do you mean why would I care?" Cynder asked back.

"I mean that I highly doubt that you care what happens to me." Solris growled.

"What?" Cynder asked taken aback by the comment.

"Admit it; you don't care about me at all! To you I'm just a source of information about the seven!" Solris snapped.

Cynder didn't reply, she had to think first. Did she really care about Solris, or was it all just a guise to try and find out information about the seven dragons of darkness? Cynder didn't know, she had never thought about it.

Cynder stuttered as she tried to come up with a reasonable response that would calm the dragoness down. "I…I"

"Just say it! For all you care I might as well not exist!"

"Solris I never-

"But that's it isn't it, you don't actually care, I am just one of the seven, an evil dragoness that doesn't matter to anyone, a dragoness who only exists to hurt others and wreak havoc on the world!"

"Stop talking!" Cynder yelled, and before she could stop to think she slapped Solris across the face, which sent the dragoness reeling. "Stop talking for just a moment." Cynder hissed. "Do you remember what I told you when you first came to Warfang with us?" Solris nodded her head slowly as she held her cheek.

"That's right; I told you that I wouldn't let anything happen to you." Cynder said before extending a wing over Solris, and pulling the dragoness towards her. "Obviously, I failed." Cynder continued as she examined the wounds on Solris' chest again. "But, you have to know Solris that I meant it. You say that you are just a dragoness who is only here to kill and cause mayhem. Well, I am here to tell you that you are wrong in that assumption."

"Bu-but, I…" Solris said, as it was her turn to stutter.

"Solris, do you know why I said that I would keep you safe?" Cynder asked, and as she expected Solris shook her head slightly.

"Solris I said that because in you I saw something different. You don't act like the others. Despite your dark complexion, and your shady history you still act differently. I didn't keep you here, and promise you safety because I wanted to extort information from you." Cynder paused for a moment, and the sudden silence made Solris turn her head so that she could see the black dragoness. "I kept you here because I had high hopes. I hoped that one day we could friends, and maybe even allies."

"Y-you want to be friends…with me?" The dragoness asked completely caught off guard, as it was the first time she had ever received such an offering. The other dark dragons had been allies but were never any closer.

"It was, and is still my hope." Cynder said.

"I don't know, if I did the seven would-

"What Solris? What would they do? You have to decide this for yourself; no one is binding you to help them. Astir holds no control over you. This is your decision." Cynder said.

The statement struck a chord with Solris. The dragoness was already taken aback by her kindness, but could she really accept it, especially when she would be putting them in so much danger just by doing so. Solris knew that even if Cynder was trying to be nice, she was naive. In reality Solris was not free to make her own decisions. She knew that Astir could see into her mind, even control her to devastating effect. The decision was far from her own.

Cynder noted the dragoness' pause, and gave a small sigh. "Look Solris, you don't have to decide right now it's okay, just give it some thought. As for right now, we have to get back to Spyro and the others, and quick to before you bleed out." Cynder said as she nodded to the blood stained stone below them.

As both dragoness' began to walk back towards the others, Cynder supporting Solris with her side Cynder said. "Now how about you tell me where you got those wounds."

Solris sighed. "After Azshea knocked me away I was lying on the ground, and that's when Krista, the ex-guardian, and member of the seven approached me…" The dragoness continued to tell her story, but of course excluding any mention of Astir's control over her body.

Cynder listened closely as the two continued on at their slow pace. When the story was finished they were close to the others. Cynder walked around a building, which still had a large hole in it from Solris' impact. The black dragoness cringed slightly at the mere thought of being thrown so violently. She could only imagine how much pain was coursing through Solris' body. Cynder had to admire her just for being able to stand back up, especially after Krista had also inflicted wounds upon her.

"Cynder!"

The call of her name brought the dragoness from her own thoughts and back to reality. The black dragoness turned her head to see Spyro sprinting towards her. When the purple dragon approached he noted Solris, as if for the first time, and his face changed to one of pity.

Spyro looked back to Cynder. "Is she alright?"

"I don't really know, we need to get her inside now so that she can rest, and then we can tend to her wounds and figure out their true extent." Cynder said a worried look on her face.

"Alright then give her here." Spyro said moving around to lift Solris onto his back. As he maneuvered the dark dragoness' body Cynder eyed him warily. The last time she had seen Spyro he seemed much more cautious around Solris, even rude at some points. The black dragoness knew that he had only acted that way to protect his friends, but still it was unnecessary. Cynder cocked her head to the side slightly in order to see Aegis. The lightning dragon however didn't notice her as he was too focused on Azshea.

Cynder did happen to notice though that Azshea seemed to have returned to normal, or at least her outward appearance had changed back to its usual state. Cynder actually had a vague idea of what had come over the dragoness, but her mind would not allow her to say aloud.

Suddenly, Azshea gasped as her body loosened up and her limbs became movable again. The dragoness twitched on the ground for a moment as she tried to fully regain control of her body. By the time she had gotten back on all fours, Aegis had stepped away from her to give her some space. The golden dragon had siphoned the electrical energy from her body in order to keep any long term damage from befalling her.

"What the hell happened? Aegis, why did you shock me?" The dragoness yelled angrily. The golden dragon looked at her peculiarly but said nothing, as he didn't even know where to start.

"You mean you don't remember?" Icryious asked stepping forward and taking the focus off of Aegis.

"Remember what? I just got shocked that's what I remember." Azshea fumed. The red dragoness looked the ice dragon up and down. "Who are you?" She asked her anger momentarily drowned out by her confusion.

"I am Icryious, the new ice guardian." The ice dragon replied, speaking as if it were obvious.

"What are you talking-

"Azshea!" Aegis interrupted, and once he had gotten her attention he continued. "Azshea please just come inside the house and I will explain everything."

"But-

"Azshea, I am asking you as a friend, trust me." Aegis pleaded. After a moment of quiet consideration the dragoness nodded slightly, and Aegis blew a sigh of relief, as it was his worry that Azshea would have transformed again.

The red dragoness took a step forward and started to walk back to the house. A second later though, she saw Spyro and Cynder, and on Spyro's back she noted Solris, who was practically passed out at this point.

"You! You're the one who-

Azshea was cut off as Aegis tackled her to the ground. The red dragoness coughed as she felt the air knocked out of her body.

"What are you doing?" The dragoness asked trying to muster an angry tone but finding it hard to breath. She had come to a stop on the ground with Aegis standing over her.

"Stopping you from doing something terrible." Aegis said calmly. "Look, I know that you are confused, but you have to stop and not do anything."

"But, she's-

"I know, but she's…" Aegis trailed off for a moment as he eyed Solris who was still hardly hanging onto consciousness. "She's different."

"W-what do you mean different?" Azshea asked shakily as her mind drew up its own conclusions.

"I mean that she is one of us, or at least not out to get us." Aegis said, and when the dragon noted Azshea's odd look he spoke again. "What did you think I meant?"

"N-nothing. Let's just go I don't want to stay around that dragoness any longer. I would kill her if I got the chance." Azshea hissed, but the tone dropped almost immediately as she saw Aegis staring at her with disdain. "But, since you asked me to I won't act, at least not until I get the whole story, after that I won't promise anything."

Krista landed alongside the dark dragon and fell into position next to him and began to walk. Astir looked over at her expecting her to report what had happened at Warfang, and why she was back.

"What happened?" The dark dragon asked when he realized that Krista was not going to speak.

"I saw Solris." Krista said plainly.

"And?" Astir asked already starting to grow tired of having to ask for her to elaborate.

"And she was in bad shape already." Krista said seeing Astir's irritation. "When I first found her she was staying with Spyro, and his friends, my guess is that she is a prisoner." The dragoness paused for a second. "Or maybe something more."

"Get on with it Krista." Astir said angrily, for the moment he didn't care about the assumptions of the dragoness, only what had happened.

"I eventually confronted her. I tried to remind her of who she was, but I do not know if she will rejoin us. I believe that her mind has been poisoned by the purple dragon and his friends. I am sorry, master."

Astir's laughter caught the dragoness off-guard, and she cocked a brow to question him. "Forgive me, but the fact that you think you failed amuses me."

"What do you mean, I failed, Solris will probably never return to us." Krista said in utter confusion.

"Ah, but you are only looking at the situation from one aspect. I can still see through Solris' eyes, and hear through her ears. She is an invaluable source of information, which we can use to our advantage. Besides that she is weak, and her physical prowess was of no real use to us." Astir explained.

"Always the wise one, aren't you." Krista said with a smirk.

"I can't help it." Astir shrugged.

"Hey you two, if I could interrupt for just a moment." Trias said as he came up next to the two dragons. "So what happens when we get to Malefor's old layer, and use the scale of Raknos?"

"First off, don't interrupt us again, next time it won't end pleasantly, but since I'm in a generous mood, I'll tell you." Astir said, his comment drawing a deep sigh from Trias. The golden dragon had completely forgotten his mannerisms. "Once we reach the spot we will use the scale and end this miserable world." Astir explained.

"So, it's that easy?" Trias asked, as he could hardly believe that starting such a cataclysmic event.

"Fantastic isn't it." Astir replied with a smile.

Spyro lumbered up the staircase in the guardian's house. The purple dragon still had an unconscious Solris lying on his back. The black dragoness had already had her wounds cleaned by Cyril. The old ice dragon had said that while the wounds were deep, and would leave scars, they had not hit any vital organs, and where therefore of no real danger.

Spyro reached the second floor and made his way over to a pillow where he gently laid the dragoness on the soft pillow. She had passed out from the loss of blood, some of which was still on Spyro's back, changing his normally lustrous purple scales to a grim red.

Behind Spyro the other dragons stepped onto the second floor as well, each of them quiet and contemplating. The events of the day had taken their toll, physically and mentally.

"So now what do we do?" Cynder asked.

"We know what the problem is. Astir has the Scale of Raknos, and we have to stop him. We know where they are headed, a volcano in the burned lands." Spyro explained.

"That'll be easy to find." Cynder said as she rolled her eyes. The dragoness vividly remembered her trip through the area with Spyro. The place was ridden with volcanoes, not to mention all of the other monstrosities and general danger.

"I can tell you're excited." Spyro replied with equal sarcasm. "Look everyone, we leave tomorrow, so I suggest you rest now. To be honest with you all this is now up to us. I don't want to pressure anyone, but the world is relying on us." Spyro said.

"How many times is this now?" Sparx asked in his usual cocky manner as he began counting on his fingers.

"Anyway get some rest; you'll need it before this is over." Spyro said ignoring his brother.

After the purple dragon had spoken each of the dragons went about their own business, they all didn't do anything to strenuous as they knew Spyro was right. Cynder however took it upon herself to talk to Azshea. She waited for a long time as Aegis explained to her all that had happened recently, and got her up to date on everything that was happening. When Cynder saw Azshea walk away from Aegis she figured that their conversation was over. Cynder got to her feet and stretched to loosen her body. The black dragoness then proceeded over to Azshea and pulled her aside.

"What is it Cynder?" The red dragoness asked in a resigned tone. After everything that Aegis had just said her mind was reeling. She never realized how complicated things had become in her life, and now it all felt like it was crushing her.

"I just wanted to tell you something, something that I think you should be aware of." Cynder said hesitantly.

Azshea gave a sigh. "Alright, go ahead and tell me, but if I snap at you I am sorry. I have been told a lot today and I am not sure what else I can handle."

Cynder nodded before continuing. "Well, if you remember you were unconscious for quite some time." The dragoness paused for a moment as she tried to gather her words. She was starting to question why she was telling Azshea this, was it not her place to say. Shouldn't Aegis be the one to tell her. "Well, um, Aegis…he."

"He kissed me." Azshea stated flatly. "That's old news."

Cynder's jaw dropped as she listened to the dragoness say those words.

"Are you okay?" Azshea asked as she watched the black dragoness shake off the confusion.

"How did you know?" Cynder asked still surprised.

"I know because while you all thought I was unconscious that was only half true. For the most part I was, but I did wake up occasionally." Azshea explained.

"Why didn't you do anything to tell us?" Cynder asked.

"Well, it's more complicated than that. I couldn't move, at all or even speak. Those crystals must have done something to my body, but I heard a lot of things, even most of his story." Azshea said.

After that there was a long pause between the two as Cynder tried to decide where to go next. "So what do you think, about Aegis I mean?" Cynder asked.

"Well, he's nice, and strong, and a very good friend, all in all I like him a lot." Azshea said lowering her voice to a whisper so that no one else in the room could overhear.

"So you feel the same way?" Cynder asked as she felt an anxious tingle run down her spine. The black dragoness and Spyro both believed that they had seen signs of a growing relationship between the two, and now it seemed like it was going to happen.

"I guess I do." Azshea said blushing slightly at the prospect.

"Then you need to say something. Azshea we are going to fight the seven any day now, this could be your last chance to say anything." Cynder urged.

After a moment the red dragoness nodded. "Y-You're right, I will. Thanks Cynder." Azshea said.

"No need to thank me." Cynder said with a smile.

The rest of the evening passed quickly. Night soon followed and within an hour all of the dragons were asleep. Around midnight though Azshea opened her eyes, the night so far had been passed in a restless sleep, which had left the dragoness edgy. Azshea's eyes darted from left to right to make sure that everything was quiet. Then she slowly lifted herself to her feet and subsequently walked out onto the balcony. Once there she breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't woken anyone else up, she knew that they all had enough to worry about without dealing with her problems as well.

The dragoness herself didn't know how to deal with her predicament. The dark power that had been forced upon her was obviously a curse, for it was far from any gift.

"A curse." Azshea muttered spitefully.

"What curse?" A voice asked, and Azshea recognized it as Aegis.

The red dragoness turned around and craned her neck to view the room behind the balcony. Once she was confident that no one had woken up, the dragoness swatted Aegis on his nose with her tail. The yellow dragon recoiled, but it was more from shock than pain.

"What was that for?" He hissed.

"That is for sneaking up on me, and keep your voice down I don't want to wake anyone up." Azshea said before turning back around to look over the balcony.

It was silent for a moment as neither dragon knew what to say. Azshea actually didn't want anything to do with Aegis at the moment; all she really wanted was silence so that she could think over her problem in peace.

"What curse were you talking about?" Aegis asked after a moment.

"You heard me?" The dragoness asked startled for her voice had hardly been a whisper. Aegis only nodded in response and waited for her to continue. "You should know what I'm talking about; you're the one that stopped me."

"You mean what happened today?"

Azshea nodded, and a worried look came over her face, as if the mention of what had happened had her losing her mind.

"Well, that was an odd occurrence." Aegis said calmly which only made Azshea all the more uneasy.

"How can you just pass it off like that?" She asked, obviously distressed.

"I wouldn't worry about it."

"How can I not worry about it?"

"Well, look at yourself." Aegis said and when the dragoness didn't move he continued. "I mean literally, look at yourself." Azshea looked at him like he was crazy but did what he asked.

"What color are your scales?" Aegis asked.

"Red." Azshea responded. "Aegis what are yo-

"Ah, ah, ah, just wait." Aegis said and Azshea gave a huff, but allowed the lightning dragon to continue.

"And your wings are…"

"Vibrant, as usual." Azshea said with pride as she fluttered her wings slightly.

"Don't flatter yourself." Aegis chuckled, bringing a small scowl from Azshea.

"Finally, do you feel the need to hurt or even kill anyone for no reason?" Aegis asked.

"Well, maybe you after that comment, but besides that no."

"Good, then what are you worried about for all we know that was a onetime thing, just a small side effect of the ritual that you underwent." Aegis explained happily.

"But what if it wasn't." Azshea blurted suddenly. "What if it comes back? What if I hurt you?" Azshea asked desperately.

"Just me?" Aegis asked surprised.

"Ah, well, y-you know what I mean." The dragoness stuttered as she tried to cover up her own mistake.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it. You'll drive yourself to insanity if you keep going on like this." Aegis chided ignoring the dragoness' awkwardness.

The dragoness didn't respond she just nodded her head trusting in the lightning dragon's words. Her eyes were beginning to water at the kind words as she was happy to know that she had such good friends to rely on. The dragoness stepped forward and nuzzled Aegis, for longer than she had expected to.

Aegis didn't move away as he was somewhat stunned by the gesture. Azshea hadn't displayed much if any outward affection for him since they had met; this seemed out of the blue to the golden dragon.

"Azshea, I…" The dragon trailed off as the rest of the sentence left his mouth.

Azshea backed away at the sound of his voice. The scarlet dragoness cocked her head to the side wondering what the dragon had to say. "What is it Aegis?"

"I…I wanted to say that, I'm happy that you're okay." Aegis stuttered.

"Oh, alright." Azshea said slightly disappointed, as she remembered Cynder's words from earlier that day.

"I guess we should both get some sleep." Azshea said after a moment, and Aegis nodded quickly. As Aegis turned tail, and began to walk away an idea came into Azshea's head. "Hey, Aegis." She said stopping the yellow dragon in his tracks. "Do you remember when I was unconscious for a long time?"

"Uh, yeah, why?" Aegis asked confused by the question.

"What if I told you that I wasn't really knocked out for all that time, but just paralyzed at times." Azshea said.

"Okay, but you weren't, you were knocked out." Aegis said not catching on to what the dragoness was talking about.

"No I actually wasn't unconscious, at least at times I wasn't." Azshea explained.

"Then you…" Aegis said trailing off as he realized what she had heard, and most likely felt.

"Yup." Azshea said as she too began to move off the balcony and back inside. As she passed the lightning dragon she gave him a kiss, similar to the one he had given to her when she was supposedly knocked out. "I feel the same way about you."

Without saying another word Azshea left the lightning dragon on the balcony. As stunned as Aegis was, a smile crossed his features as he made his way back inside.


	21. Chapter 20

7

**A/N: Right, so as always this took forever, so sorry about that but hopefully you will enjoy.**

Spyro blinked his tired eyes as he lay on the floor. The purple dragon was only beginning to shake the sleepiness from his purple orbs. The young dragon could see the first rays of sunlight stretching across the floor of the room, slowly inching towards him.

The purple dragon let out a slight groan as he pushed himself from the floor and onto his paws. The fight with Azshea the previous day still left him sore. His scales ached from the fire that had engulfed him, but the dragon ignored it. As he stood up he heard Cynder give a gasp and the dragoness snapped her head upright.

"Easy. It's just me." Spyro whispered and the dragoness seemed to calm at the sound of his voice.

"Sorry, with everything that's happened lately I'm feeling edgy." Cynder said as she got up and began to stretch out her body.

"Well, soon we won't have a reason to be edgy." Spyro responded with a smile.

"That's right today we head for the burned lands don't we." Cynder said her tone indicating that she wasn't terribly thrilled with the idea.

"Yeah, we have to stop the seven." As he spoke Spyro sensed the dragoness' discomfort and he drew her in close with one of his leathery wings. "Are you nervous?"

"Of course." Cynder said nodding her head. "Aren't you?"

Spyro shrugged. "No more than I was when we faced Malefor." The purple dragon nuzzled the dragoness comfortingly. "Don't worry I won't let anything happen to you." Spyro whispered, and the dragoness gave a small smile in response.

From across the room Solris groaned as she rolled over on the pillow where she lay. Spyro slowly lifted his wing, releasing Cynder, and together the two walked across the stone tiles towards the black dragoness.

By the time they got there the black dragoness' eyes were open, but she had yet to stand up. She focused on the dragons who approached her and blinked a few times to straighten her vision.

"How are you feeling?" Spyro asked cocking his head to the side.

The black dragoness was put off guard by the question, as she hadn't expected caring words. "My entire body aches." Solris said with a shiver as another wave of pain washed over her. "But I'll make it."

"Listen Solris, we are leaving today." Cynder said bluntly.

"What? Why?" Solris asked her head perking up.

"We have to stop Astir, he has the scale of Raknos, and it won't be long now until he reaches the Burned Lands." Cynder explained.

"Why can't I come along, do I not have the right to go?" Solris asked slightly offended, but in the back of her mind she could understand why they would not want her to come with them.

Spyro and Cynder shrugged, they didn't know what to tell the dragoness. "Solris, you are hurt it would be better for you to stay and rest." Spyro said, but the argument sounded weak even to him. Both Spyro and Cynder knew that Solris was a strong dragoness, and even after the beating she had taken the previous day, she could still fight.

"Is that really the reason, or do you just not want to take me because you are afraid of what I might do?" Solris asked as she turned her eyes from the dragons. Solris knew that she herself would not strike out but if Astir took control of her there would be no telling what would happen. Solris subconsciously tapped the wound that had killed her before as she waited for a response.

Spyro was dumbstruck by the question. He and Cynder had considered Solris turning against them, but every day Solris had proven them wrong in that assumption.

"No Solris, we don't think that." Cynder said after a moment. Her faith in the dragoness, unlike the others was set. In her mind Solris had changed and was already part of their little group. "We think that you are hurt, and that we should keep you safe."  
"Well, you thought wrong because I'm fine." Solris said as she stood upright. As she was working her way up the dragoness stumbled, but quickly recovered to keep herself from falling. When she looked back at Spyro and Cynder she gave a reassuring smile which did little to convince the two dragons. "Besides if we don't stop them then we'll all die anyway."

Spyro and Cynder gave a little nod. "Alright you can come with us." Cynder said.

"Just make sure you keep up we can't afford to waste any time." Spyro said, and Solris bobbed her head.

Astir looked around the small encampment. The dragon and his group of followers had stopped the night before, and were only now starting to awake. Astir stretched as he watched the many apes move around the camps. The ones that had survived from the assault on Warfang had returned to him anxious for more dragon blood. They blindly followed Astir unaware that he would in fact fight no more dragons, but instead end the world completely.

The dragon felt that it would be better to not tell them. Since they didn't hold the same fearful respect for him as they had for Malefor, it was quite likely that they would turn against him. The apes were ready to kill any dragon, even the ones they followed if they had a good enough reason.

The dragon turned his attention away from the loud creatures that covered the camp and instead looked to the sky. How the dark dragon longed to jump into the air and fly straight towards the Burned Lands. The reason they had taken so long already was because of the apes. The beasts could not fly, and therefore the seven had to keep pace with them by walking. In truth Astir was disappointed, he had expected Spyro and his friends to show up and confront them. For that exact reason he had brought the apes with him, in order to tip the scales in his favor.

To the dark dragon's surprise though, the purple dragon had not shown his face, and Astir had only wasted his time by bringing the smelly creatures along.

"A waste of time." The dragon spat angrily.

"What was?" Krista asked, the blue dragoness appearing from behind the black scaled dragon.

"Bringing these apes with us." Astir clarified, not surprised that Krista was listening to him.

"I thought they were here to fight." Krista said not understanding.

"Fight what?" Astir asked his tone lined with anger.

"Would you have rather had Spyro show his face and had to fight him?" Krista asked sarcastically. "That one is a handful, along with his friends."

The black dragon didn't respond for a long time. "No." He said flatly after what seemed like forever. In his mind he knew it was stupid to fight Spyro again and take the risk, but his ego was getting the best of him, and the need to best Spyro grew stronger each day.

"That wasn't very convincing." The dragoness said. When she didn't get any response she decided to press the issue just a bit more. "You wanted him to confront us didn't you?" Astir turned his head so that he could see the ice dragoness, but said nothing. "You wanted to fight him, to kill him with your own teeth and claws." As the dragoness spoke Astir's eyes narrowed, unhappy that anyone even his ally could seem to read his thoughts. "That is why you brought the apes, they slow us down and that gives our enemies a chance to catch up, and you, your chance to fight."

"A dangerous move master." The dragoness finished. She could tell she had hit a nerve, and decided it best to stop speaking lest she draw the dark dragon's anger. Astir only growled having nothing to say to the dragoness.

"Astir, when are we…whoa what's gotten into you?" Trias said as he walked up to the two dragons.

"Trias I have a task for you." The black dragon uttered in a low tone as an idea popped into his mind.

"What would that be?" The yellow dragon asked curiously. He had assumed that there were no more tasks, since they were going to Malefor's lair, which was supposed to be the final part of the plan. The idea sent a shiver down his spine, as he realized that something wasn't right.

"I want you to take the apes with you, and back track. Find Spyro and Cynder, and put an end to them." Astir explained bringing a gasp from both dragons.

"Astir don't you think that is a little rash, it leaves us unprotected, and the scale must come before your petty feud." Krista argued.

"Hold your tongue Krista," Astir snapped. "Besides, this way we can move faster, and last time I checked we could defend ourselves."

"What about me, why do I have to go, I want to be there when you use the Scale of Raknos." Trias complained.

"You will do this Trias; all of your words will do you nothing." Astir said flatly.

"Perhaps action then." The yellow dragon growled and within seconds Trias had leapt from his spot aiming to tackle Astir.

The black dragon deftly sidestepped the predictable attack leaving Trias to grind into the dirt. The golden scaled dragon slowly pulled himself back onto his paws.

"You can't win, and you'll only embarrass yourself by trying." Astir chided. Trias didn't listen he just launched himself forward again, desperate to get a hit off on the black dragon.

He failed again though as Astir brought his tail to bear, and slammed the dragon back to the ground.

"I'm not joking anymore, stop." Astir said roughly as he stared at the struggling dragon.

"Then give me one good reason why I have to go!" The dragon yelled.

"Because Trias," The dragon leaned down, so that he was close to Trias. "You are the most expendable."

Before Trias could voice a retort Astir walked away, Krista following in his wake, leaving the lightning dragon to lay on the ground fuming, as he excepted his fate.

Terrodar, Cyril, and Volteer all paced the room anxiously waiting for the younger generation of dragons to pull themselves together. Each elder was far from calm. They had all known Spyro, and even Cynder for a good time now, and as in any relationship they had grown attached. Sending the dragons into the face of danger alone seemed irrational to them. They wanted nothing more than to protect the young ones, and yet they could do nothing to stop them.

"Terrodar?" Spyro asked for the third time. When the green dragon still didn't answer Spyro flapped his wings, and sent a gust of wind over the dragon, the air doing nothing more than bringing the earth dragon from his thoughts.

"Are you alright Terrodar?" Spyro asked, as he noted the obvious worry on the dragon's face.

"Y-yes it's just that this is nerve wracking, the moments before the coming storm." The dragon explained in a tired voice.

"What's to worry about you've got us." Aegis said puffing his chest out. "Besides you guys aren't even going to be fighting so what's there to be concerned about?" The yellow dragon asked. Suddenly, Azshea pricked him with the sharp end of her tail making the dragon gasp.

"What was that for?" The dragon asked in an irritated tone.

"Don't remind them that they are not fighting, I am sure if they could they would." Azshea said.

"Our concern young one." Cyril said interrupting the two dragons. "Our concern stems from the fact that we are not fighting. There is nothing worse than a dear friend has falling before your eyes in combat, and knowing that you can do nothing about it." The ice dragon said sadly.

As Spyro listened to the ice dragon speak a name came to mind, someone that he hadn't thought about because of everything that had been happening. Ignitus had fallen in the belt of fire when they had first entered the Burned Lands. The purple dragon had watched his mentor die in the flames. Spyro knew exactly what Cyril was talking about.

"Spyro are you sure you want to go through with this?" Volteer asked his voice running all of the words together as usual, the effect only being heightened by his nervousness.

"We don't have much choice." Spyro responded, as he pulled himself from his thoughts. "If we don't stop them then Astir will use the Scale of Raknos, and all life will cease to exist."

"Not necessarily, there is one other thing that could stop the dragon." Volteer said.

"What do you mean?" Cynder asked, intrigued by the prospect.

"He is talking about Karik." Icryious interrupted.

"Who's that?" Spyro asked looking between Cyril and Icryious for an answer.

"Karik was the ice dragon that is said to have landed the killing blow on Raknos. While there were many dragons that fought Raknos, Karik was said to have killed him." Cyril explained.

"How does that help us?" Solris asked. After she spoke she immediately regretted it as all the guardians glared at her. None of them shared the views that the younger dragons had. As far as they were concerned Solris was the enemy, Spyro was the only thing holding them back from attacking her then and there.

"It helps us because Karik knew about the scale that Raknos imbued with his power. In turn the ice dragon took a portion of his spirit, and put it into the scale as well. It is said that when someone tries to use the scale his spirit will emerge to stop them." Terrodar explained.

"Okay, but no one knows for sure if this thing will come out to stop Astir or not." Aegis said.

"Sadly no, no one knows if it is true, because the scale has never been in jeopardy until now." Cyril said.

"Well, even if this Karik tries to stop them there is no guarantee that it will." Spyro said. "We still have to go, to make sure that this ends here and now."

"Then, stop talking and go; they already have enough of a lead on you." Terrodar said gruffly, as he tried to keep his emotions in check.

"Yes, go young ones and good luck, you'll need it." Volteer said as he gently pushed Spyro towards the window.

"Alright, we'll be back later." Spyro said as he took to the air.

Each of the other dragons said their goodbyes, before following him. Solris only gave a short nod before flying away; as she feared that saying something could very well invoke their wrath.

As the dragons flew away into the morning sky the three elders watched with apprehension, as if they would all just fall from the sky then and there.

"Spyro said he would be back." Cyril said breaking the silence.

After a long pause Terrodar turned away from the window. "He shouldn't make promises that he might not keep."

Spyro and the other five dragons cut through the sky. Each of them was keeping close as they didn't know what to expect. They flew onwards towards the Burned Lands, none of them taking any time to really examine the scenery around them, as each of them knew that they had to hurry.

Spyro led the group with Cynder close behind. The purple dragon was trying very hard to hide his emotion as he contemplated what had happened the last time they had gone to the burned lands. The events in the belt of fire swirled back to him as Spyro visualized Ignitus, using the last of his strength to save him before falling in the writhing flames.

"Spyro!" Cynder shouted over the wind, and the purple dragon's eyes snapped open. He had been unaware of closing them in the first place.

Cynder flew up next to the dragon, who was hanging his head in sorrow, but somehow managing to keep up a terrifying pace. "Spyro, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The dragon lied, as he tried not to make eye contact with her, as he knew that it would give him away.

The dragoness noted his odd behavior, and immediately went through, in her mind, what could be making the dragon upset. "Come on Spyro you can tell me what you are thinking about." Cynder said after not coming up with anything in her head.

Spyro gave a resigned sigh, as he knew that the dragoness would continue to ask him until he told her the truth. "I was just thinking about Ignitus." The dragon said sadly.

"Oh." Cynder said half surprised, as Ignitus had not been brought up for some time now. Although after a moment of thought it didn't surprise the black dragoness that Spyro would think of him now. They were in fact going to fly over the place of his death. "What were you thinking about that related to him, particularly I mean?" The dragoness pressed.

"Just about what Cyril had said, about how there is nothing worse than watching a friend die, and knowing that you are powerless to help. Just like I was when Ignitus died." Spyro said shaking his head with sorrow.

"Spyro, don't blame yourself like that!" The dragoness said forcefully, and if she could have she would have hit the purple dragon for thinking such a thing.

"I could have saved him!" Spyro shot back.

"Spyro listen to me, you may be a purple dragon, but you can only do so much. Ignitus' death should not bear down on your shoulders." Cynder said bluntly, and after a pause she added. "It wasn't your fault."

"I know but-

"But nothing, you did what you could, and that is all that matters." Cynder said putting emphasis on each word. There was a pause between the two for a long time after that. Neither dragon spoke, and Cynder started to wonder if she had been too forceful.

"I don't know if I'll ever forgive myself, but what I was more concerned about is what if it happens again Cynder?" Spyro asked breaking the silence.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Cynder asked confused.

"What if I can't stop them, what if no one can…what if you die?" The purple dragon asked turning to Cynder, and she could tell how serious he was just be seeing his face.

The black dragoness stuttered as she tried to form various responses, none of them becoming a coherent response. The mention of her or her friends dying had sent her mind spiraling and she couldn't seem to think straight.

Just as the dragoness was beginning to get her words back Spyro cut her off. "I don't want to lose you Cynder."

"I..I don't want to lose you either, Spyro." Cynder responded.

"Then promise me that you won't do anything crazy." Spyro said.

"Only if you promise me." Cynder said in return.

"Alright, I promise." Spyro said with a smile.

"And I promise you too." Cynder said copying the smile. "And Spyro," She said after a moment. "Don't worry about that other stuff, it won't happen, I promise." Spyro nodded happy to have Cynder with him.

The dragons flew on for quite some time, landscapes coming and going in blur as they made their way closer to the Burned Lands. After a few hours the group of dragons was skimming over a thick forest. The whole flight all of the dragons had seen almost no activity and they were starting to grow tired of the seemingly endless flight.

A sudden hoot rose up through the thick brush of the forest alerting all of the dragons. Each of them snapped to attention and began to look down at the green forest. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but following the first horn was a second and then a third, until the whole area was blaring with the sounds.

"What's going on?" Azshea asked over the loud noises.

Spyro shook his head, he knew he had heard the sounds before but he could not place them.

"Apes." Cynder said jogging the dragon's memory.

"Why would they be here though?" Spyro asked curiously. "By now Astir must be in the Burned Lands."

"I don't know maybe they're here because-

Aegis' thought was cut off as a spear flew up through the forest, and pierced his wing. The golden dragon roared in pain as another spear punctured his side, and he began to fall from the sky. None of the dragons had any time to consider what was happening before the air was filled with spears.

Azshea didn't pay the sharp objects any attention as she watched Aegis fall down through the thick branches of the trees. She wanted to scream for help, but knew that it would do no good. Instead the dragoness did the next thing that sprang into her mind, she dived. The crimson dragoness shot through the sky headed straight for the forest floor.

Spyro, Cynder, and Icryious gave her a glance, but could not focus fully on her, because of the spears that were falling like raindrops around them.

"Cynder, Icryious get down there now." The purple dragon yelled as he dodged another spear. Neither of the dragons had ever heard Spyro say something so forcefully, and for a second they were stunned. As they watched the purple dragon drop out of the air they quickly followed him.

Azshea fell through the air towards the forest. As she fell towards the trees in a controlled dive she began to spin. The red dragoness' scales began to burn, and flames burst from the dragoness scaly hide. The orange flames licked her body, and as they grew the fire leapt from her body creating a spinning cone of fire.

The dragoness plummeted through the tree branches incinerating everything in her path, leaving a burning hole in the forest. When she had cleared the tree branches the dragoness snapped her wings open, stretching them to their limits. Within seconds she had come to a halt only a few feet from the ground. The red dragoness dropped the rest of the way landing gracefully on the soft green grass.

Azshea hardly had time to examine her surroundings as she was knocked to the ground by one particularly large ape. The furry creature hooted, and hollered as it grappled with the red dragoness. As Azshea fought with the ape she managed to bite down on the beast's shoulder, her sharp teeth sinking into the soft flesh.

With one blood curdling scream the ape punched Azshea in the gut sending her to the ground, the breath knocked from her lungs. To the dragoness horror a knife quickly followed the first blow. The red dragoness swiveled her body trying to avoid the tribal looking blade, but her effort was in vain. Azshea screamed as the knife dug deep into her shoulder, sending blood gushing to stain her scales, and the grass around her.

Azshea took a deep breath to steady herself, as the ape was distracted by her blood. With one painful, yet fluid, moment Azshea grabbed the weapon in her jaw, and pulled the blade free. Once the dagger had been removed flames burst from the dragoness mouth. The powerful attack sent the ape's charred corpse to the ground a few feet away.

Azshea jumped to all fours, and looked around to find that apes were surrounding her already. There were obviously more of the mangy blood-thirsty animals than Azshea had originally thought. She was starting to worry that she would be overwhelmed. With savage snarls a few apes pounced on the fatigued dragoness. Azshea didn't move as she called on her element once more, and flames burst all along her body. The apes all flailed in mid-flight as they tried to avoid the searing heat that was covering the dragoness body. Azshea looked around eyeing each ape warily as the flames still licked her body. None of the apes moved close to the dragoness as the fire would char them if they did.

Even though Azshea was temporarily safe she knew that she would have to act, she was expending so much energy to keep the flames up that she would have none left if she didn't do anything. Azshea growled baring her teeth, and sending all of the apes back a few steps. Within moments the growl excelled into a roar. The fire around her body corresponded with the sound, and grew large and hotter. Before any of the apes could even comprehend what was happening the flames around Azshea had grown into one singular entity. With one last burst the fire exploded with a bang, leaving everything within the general vicinity scorched.

Azshea coughed as ash fell all around her. Any sign of apes had faded now as the immediate vicinity had been cleared of any living thing. Azshea felt the blood trickling down her chest but knew that she could do nothing about it. Besides that a little wound would not stop her. She had come down to find Aegis in the first place, and was yet to find him.

As she looked around though she noted a golden tinge in the now blackened landscape, and picked it out as Aegis. Azshea walked over to Aegis who was pulling at the spear lodged in his chest. The tip had only gone in a little, but it was obviously painful. As Azshea neared him the golden dragon ripped the spear out and spit it onto the ground. The dragon didn't notice Azshea, he just moved his mouth to the spear that had pierced his leathery wing.

Azshea watched for a moment as Aegis pulled at the spear futilely, before she stepped in. "Do you need some help?"

Aegis didn't respond he just took his mouth off of the spear, and gave a quick nod. Azshea nodded. "Might want to bit your tongue." She suggested, before reaching her mouth around the spear. After a moment the dragoness crunched her teeth together turning the spear to splinters, and effectively removing the spear tip. Once the metal end was gone Azshea gently pulled the rest of the spear out of the electric dragon's wing as gently as she could.

"Thanks." Aegis said as he got up. The golden dragon waved his wing to ensure that it was okay before turning to examine Azshea. "Azshea you're bleeding! What happened?" He asked in a worried tone.

"I had a run in with some apes, I'm surprised you didn't notice." Azshea said nodding back to the blackened area that she had created.

Aegis strained his neck in order to see the area and gasped in surprise. "How many were there?"

"Four or five, I don't really know." Azshea said shaking her head.

"Can you go on then?" Aegis asked as he had gone back to staring at the wound.

Azshea looked at him as though he were dumb. "I'll be fine, but thanks for the concern." She said before giving the dragon a peck on the cheek.

The blood immediately ran to Aegis' face and Azshea giggled as he tried to hide it. "Come on, we have to find Spyro and Cynder; they could still be fighting with apes." Aegis said gruffly.

Azshea only nodded, before turning around to lead the way, but jumped in surprise when she saw an ape standing in front of her, its brutal looking sword drawn. The ape moved quicker than Azshea could react, bashing the dragoness on her cheek, and sending her to the ground roughly. The dragoness' vision swirled as she hit the ground. As she lay stunned on the ground she could see Aegis struggling against two more apes that must have taken him by surprise, but the brutal creatures were having no problem holding him back. When Azshea turned back again the ape's sword was already plunging at her.


	22. Chapter 21

6

**A/N: Alright, a rather quick update for once, I guess I'm overdue for one.**

The sword wielding ape plunged its sharp weapon downward towards a helpless Azshea. The dragoness saw her end rushing forward to meet her, but was incapable of stopping the metal weapon. The crimson dragoness heard a loud roar from Aegis, as the electric dragon sent a pulse of energy into the apes that were holding him. The blast successfully freeing the lightning dragon, but it was still too late for him to save Azshea from her own form of danger.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a black shape slammed into the ape above Azshea sending both figures stumbling to the ground. After both of them were tossed on the ground though the ape managed to recover first and it subsequently took its weapon and swiftly struck at the black figure.

Azshea, who had at this point recovered from her attack, let loose a torrent of fire that incinerated the ape leaving nothing, but the remnants of a blackened corpse. After the immediate threat had diminished Azshea and Aegis, who had caught up to the red dragoness, walked over to the black figure, each of them having a good idea as to who it was, and Azshea was already none too pleased with the prospect.

Laying on the ground the two dragons found Solris, who was slowly regaining her footing. Both dragons noticed the slash across her hide from the ape's weapon, but on Aegis grimaced at the sight of the ghastly wound.

"What are you doing here?" Azshea growled the tone catching Solris by surprise.

"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" Solris asked, as she stood back up. "I dropped down behind you both, but I got separated when I flew through the trees."

"Why are you here then, you aren't needed, we could have handled the situation." Azshea said her tone far from pleasant.

"What do you mean handled, you were about to die." Solris said, her temper rising, but she managed to keep the emotion out of her tone.

"I was fine, I don't need you here, and neither does anyone else!" Azshea yelled stepping forward aggressively.

"You ungrateful-

The black dragoness was promptly cut off by Azshea, who slapped her solidly across the face, a strike which did little to make the dragoness stagger, and instead only made her close her mouth. She could feel the side of her face throb, but said nothing more.

"I don't want to hear it! You killed my mother, and you deserve the same fate!" Azshea screamed, before she jumped forward, aiming to tackle the black dragoness.

To her surprise, she was intercepted by Aegis in midflight. The lightning dragon caught her and sent both of them tumbling to the ground. Aegis ended up standing over the dragoness to make sure that she could not get back up and fight.

"Settle down, Azshea!" Aegis hissed.

"You're taking her side?" Azshea asked in a sad tone.

"I'm not taking anyone's side; I'm just trying to keep everyone from killing each other." Aegis said, before he stepped off of Azshea.

"Azshea you take the lead, we have to find Spyro and Cynder." Aegis said looking between the two as he tried to diffuse the situation. Once the red dragoness had moved a few feet away Aegis turned back towards Solris, who hadn't moved.

"Listen, I'll talk to her Solris, but I can't promise anything." Aegis said bringing a surprised look to the black dragoness' face as she hadn't expected any more help from him. She still doubted if Aegis and his friends truly thought of her as an ally.

"Does she not realize that her mother was trying to corrupt her?" Solris asked as she began to follow Azshea, but at a range where she would not be heard, although she was quiet obviously trying to keep her distance from the angry dragoness.

"I think somewhere in her mind she knows that you did the right thing, but losing a parent is never easy. She is looking for someone to blame, and that someone is you." Aegis explained.

"It all sounds stupid to me." Solris spat.

"Well you two can resolve it later, right now we have to watch ourselves, the apes are all over the place." Aegis said looking to the surrounding trees as if expecting an ape to attack him right then.

"If there is a later." Solris said solemnly as she looked down to the slash mark in her hide which had begun to bleed down her scales.

"Don't talk like that." Aegis said sternly forcing the black dragoness to look at him. "If you start thinking like that then you are sure to fail, and we won't fail." The yellow dragon stated.

Before the dragoness could say anymore Aegis gave a little burst of speed which put him close to Azshea. Solris watched for a moment as the two talked, she noted that Azshea was obviously still angry as she saw a few plumes of orange fire escape her mouth and snout.

The black dragoness shook her head still not understanding why the red dragoness was acting as she did. To lose someone close to you was one thing, but Ashe, even though she had been Azshea's mother, had tried to convert her to a dark dragon. That in Solris' mind was more than enough to cut any bonds between people.

As the dragoness was lost in her thoughts it wasn't until the last second that she tossed herself forward to skim over the ground as an ape landed hard in the dirt where she had been. The creature had been expecting an easy kill and when it found no blood on its sword it was far from happy.

The ape wrenched its sword out of the ground, and stalked towards the black dragoness, who watched the creature but made no movements.

As the ape neared Solris heard Aegis yell, "Apes!" Followed by several hoots and savage growls. The dragoness had no time to turn though as the ape in front of her leapt forward. Solris ducked to the side to avoid the savage swipe. As she came back up, Solris leapt forward tackling the ape. The dragoness ended the enemies' life in two quick slices, one in the chest and the other severing the ape's throat.

As the ape died Solris turned around to see and ape flying through the air at her. The dragoness quickly ducked the flailing body. As it passed the dragoness noticed that it was in fact on fire. Solris ignored the helpless ape, and charged forward. As she ran, more apes jumped out of the trees at the two, already overwhelmed, dragons. Solris slammed into one ape with her horns knocking the beast to the ground before tearing into it with her talons.

After she had killed that ape Solris ducked below a horizontal attack from an ape, the mammal's axe nearly decapitating her, as the weapon cleared her body Solris turned to face the ape and jumped forward, wrapping her maw around the ape's throat and crunching down on its spine.

Aegis felt his body crackle with energy as he let loose three consecutive lightning bolts, each one tearing through a different ape. The poor creatures were dead before they hit the ground. The lightning dragon turned back around just in time to feel his jaw get smashed by a hammer as a nearby ape performed an uppercut. The bulky weapon sent the dragon sprawling. As Aegis picked himself up off the ground he spat blood. The lightning dragon hardly had time to stop his head from spinning as he pushed himself backwards, and mere seconds later the same hammer came crashing down where he had been standing, the weapon shattering the ground. Seeing his opportunity Aegis felt the rush of energy leave his body and pure electricity struck the ape in the chest killing him.

After the ape had been dealt with Aegis quickly walked over to the hammer and grasped it in his mouth, seeing the potential of the weapon. In a few seconds the dragon had located his target. With a quick spin Aegis swung the hammer in his mouth and tossed the weapon through the air sending it end over end until it smashed into an ape. With a sickening thud it crushed the ape, and sent him to the ground, where he didn't move again.

Azshea breathed a wave of fire sending all apes near to her running, the orange flames licking the surface of the forest, and engulfing everything in sight. The select few apes that made it past the fire she immediately dealt with, using her claws and in some cases teeth to put an end to them.

The red dragoness scowled when she saw Solris draw near to her, an ape chasing her down. Solris hopped backwards on her hind legs before giving one powerful flap of her wings, whilst channeling her element. A sizable gust of wind rushed forward taking the surprised ape from the ground and launching him into a nearby tree.

Solris turned around to see Azshea scowling at her. The two locked eyes for a moment each of them glaring at one another.

"Didn't I already say that I didn't need you?" Azshea asked her anger rising suddenly.

"Whether or not you want me here isn't up to you." Solris answered. "Either way I'm staying."

Azshea stalked forward angrily, she was past the point of words. When she got close Solris' eyes suddenly widened, and she brought her barb tail to bear. Without a second thought she plunged it forward.

Azshea stood in shock as she looked at the black dragoness tail which had gone just past her, and into an unsuspecting ape who had been in mid-flight. The ape had been about to kill Azshea without making a sound. The creature gargled on its own blood as Solris held it up in the air, skewered on her tail. After a moment the black dragoness shook her tail effortlessly tossing the dead body onto the ground.

Solris wiped her tail on the grass to clean it before walking away. "Let's go find Spyro." She said as she walked further into the forest.

Azshea and Aegis watched her go. The crimson dragoness watched the dragoness go with disdain. She had half a mind to torch Solris then and there.

"Why do you hate her so much?" Aegis asked, although the question came out a bit more bluntly than he had intended. Azshea only snorted, blowing a few flames into the air, before walking forward to follow Solris.

"Wait!" Aegis said forcefully as he leapt over the dragoness, and landed in front of her. "You didn't answer me."

"What do you care?" Azshea asked as she tried to push past the lightning dragon.

"You're my friend, that's why I care." Aegis said standing firmly in front of her, making it impossible for her to pass him.

"If you were my friend you would be on my side." Azshea growled.

"I am your friend and I am trying to tell you what is right." Aegis said as Azshea pushed on his shoulder trying to move him.

"Hey are you two coming or not?" Solris asked and Aegis turned to look at the dragoness who was giving him a peculiar look. Azshea took her chance then, and there and pushed the lightning dragon out of the way before proceeding forward.

"Azshea, wait!" The lightning dragon pleaded as he caught up to the dragoness. For a reason unknown to Azshea she conformed to the plea, and stopped in her tracks, her eyes on the grass below her talons. "Azshea, please at least give her a chance."

The crimson dragoness looked up at Aegis with blazing eyes, but said nothing. "For me." Aegis added before gently bumping his snout against hers. Azshea blinked as she walked past the dragon seeming to ignore his existence all together.

Aegis gave a sigh as he quickly followed after her. He didn't know it, but behind her angry demeanor Azshea was in fact torn. Thoughts of her mother rushed through her mind, and paralleling them were thoughts of Solris. Azshea calmly walked forward following Solris, rolling over thoughts in her mind, which made her completely unaware of any danger around her.

Spyro tucked his body into a roll as he smashed through the upper foliage of the thick forest. The purple drake landed roughly, but it hardly fazed him as he launched himself into a nearby ape, who still had his spear raised towards the sky. Spyro took no time in ripping the creature to shreds with his powerful talons.

As he raised his head from the kill scanning the nearby area for his next target he instead found many apes, more than he could handle at one time. Spyro pushed himself up into the air, before quickly falling to the ground again. When the dragon slammed the dirt, the soil quickly began to react to his touch and within seconds a cocoon of solid earth covered his body. From inside the dragon could hear the thuds as spears bounced harmlessly off the shield. He grinned as he heard the apes holler in anger. Without a second thought the dragon raised his paw and brought it back down at a frightening speed. The shield that had covered him so well shattered, the pieces shooting in all directions, the small shards of earth acting as shrapnel and cutting a swath through the apes.

The dragon watched in satisfaction as many of the apes fell wounded or dead all around him. Suddenly, Spyro felt the temperature behind him drop. The purple dragon spun around to find a startling sight. An ape stood with its weapon, a gleaming sword, raised high. The creature would have been the end of him, but fortunately for Spyro it had been frozen in a cube of solid ice.

The dragon just barely got a good look at the poor creature before Icryious fell from the sky, using his scaly tail to shatter the ape into a thousand pieces.

"You should watch your back." The ice dragon said with a grin.

"With friends like you, I don't think I have to." Spyro said returning the smile.

"Yeah, well don't slack off just yet." Icryious said, before firing an ice spike that struck one unfortunate ape in the skull.

With the gruesome act the fight seemed to come back alive as a seemingly endless amount of apes piled out of the trees each desperate for dragon's blood.

"Icryious where is Cynder?" Spyro asked as he spat three fireballs, each exploding on contact, sending dirt through the air and sending more than a few apes scattering.

"Isn't she with you?" Icryious asked, as he ducked the swing of an ape's club, before sending his tail forward to impale the brute. Spyro watched as he flicked the creature away into its comrades knocking them down.

"It looks, like we are going to have to speed things up." Spyro said, as he realized the full potential of the situation. If Cynder was by herself with this many apes around it would be tough for her to survive.

Icryious nodded before leaping away from Spyro, and into the center of a group of apes. The ice dragon quickly disappeared underneath the animals, but Spyro had his paws full and had no way of helping. Even so he knew that Icryious wasn't that dumb, he must have had some sort of plan.

Spyro sidestepped an ape's vertical slash, setting the creature off-balance, before he spun kicking the ape with his hind legs. As he turned back around Spyro let loose a burst of lightning that struck four apes simultaneously causing them all to fall on the ground and twitch for a moment before falling still.

After a moment Spyro began to hear something that drowned out the rest of the apes. An icy wind swept over the area the roaring noise made it sound as if a blizzard was overhead. Coupling with the wind a roar swept over the area, both sounds easily canceling out all the others. Spyro immediately recognized it as Icryious, as there were no other dragons around that he knew of. With the roar came an icy breeze that sent shivers down the dragon's spine. Spyro looked to all the apes who had stopped in their tracks, curious as to what this new threat was, as well as trying to decide if they should run or fight.

From behind Spyro apes were blown through the air as Icryious emerged from the dog pile of enemies. The dragon still looked as he usually did, but now it appeared as though he were wearing his element. His sky blue scales were covered in icy crystals that chilled bone, even a few icicles hung from his body in random places. The ice covering him making his body freezing cold to the touch. The only other change, although it was one to be noted, was his eyes. The orbs had turned completely white, almost so bright that you could not look at them directly.

The ice dragon looked around at his, now cowering, enemies. The apes all took more than a few steps back from the dragon. Within seconds the first ape broke ranks and ran away from the fight. Icryious was faster though, and he pin-pointed the ape. The dragon lifted his right paw, and then sunk his talons into the dirt. There was a small rumble before ice spikes erupted from the ground, underneath the fleeing creature and skewering him.

The rest of the apes watched their friend die before turning back to Icryious. Suddenly, one ape gave a blaring war cry, sending all of the others into a frenzy, within moments all of the apes were headed for Icryious.

The ice dragon fired two ice spikes, one after the other, catching two apes. As the nearest ape approached him the ice dragon simple lifted a paw and slashed the creature, leaving three deep wounds. Although they were painful the attack would normally have not been lethal. As the ape fell over however, icy crystals began to grow from the wound. After only a few seconds the ape was completely frozen.

Unfortunately, for the apes they took no notice of their fallen comrade, and instead continued to pile onto Icryious, who in turn fought each of them off. The ice dragon moved with terrifying speed and efficiency. Each of his strikes killing another ape, and easy each one feel it seemed to Spyro that the apes grew more and more restless, and more ready to run.

Spyro watched as the apes gathered in larger numbers, and he was beginning to grow worried that Icryious may not be able to fend them off. The purple dragon used his fire and electric elements a few times, killing a few apes, but he decided that it was probably better to not attack as he almost hit Icryious multiple times. Spyro knew though that the ice dragon could not fight them all off and when they overwhelmed him what would they do. After a moment Spyro, saw the ice dragon's eyes flicker back and forth before they changed back to their normal color, and soon after the ice melted off his scales. As the blue dragon fell to the ground many of the apes turned their attention back to Spyro.

Cynder fell through the trees. She would have normally been able to keep her balance, but the area that she had chosen to drop through had many thick vines, which had tangled with her wings, and sent her tumbling down to the ground.

The black dragoness landed with an unceremonious thud. Cynder groaned as she picked herself up off the ground, as she tried to get her bearings. The dragoness looked around, and gasped in surprise. She rolled away as an ape sliced the ground she had been standing on. As soon as she could Cynder breathed a wave of black fire that made the ape scream in pain. The creature ran around wildly trying to put out the fire, but to no avail. When it had fallen Cynder took her chance to find out where she was. The dragoness looked around wearily trying to spot any potential enemies before they were upon her.

It didn't take her long to figure out that she had quite possibly landed in the worst possible place. Directly across from her, standing out amongst the trees was a yellow dragon. Trias grinned before firing a lightning bolt.

Cynder heard the tell tale crackle, and immediately rolled to the side to avoid the devastating attack, which cut through the air before shattering a tree.

"You're still as agile as ever, Cynder." Trias said. "Malefor always said that you had great reflexes."

Cynder looked around trying to find where the dragon was but finding it difficult as there were so many trees. The dragoness let out a physic scream that slammed into nearby forestation knocking them out of the ground, and freeing up some room.

"You look a little frustrated." The yellow dragon continued, as Cynder continued to turn in circles trying to locate the dragon. "Is something on your mind?"

"Is it because you found out that Solris is actually helping us?" The dragon asked and Cynder stopped all movement. Had Trias just said what she had thought he said? The dragoness shook the thought from her mind as she had much more important things to worry about at the moment. "By the looks of it you didn't know that, I'm sorry to have to break it to you. Oh, and you might want to watch your back."

Cynder flipped around to find an ape posed to strike at her. The dragoness spat a glob of green poison that began to tear through the ape's skin on contact. The creature dropped its weapon and fell on the ground as it tried to remove the poison.

"You might have quick reflexes, but you may want to be more aware of your surroundings." Trias said mockingly.

"Shut up!" Cynder yelled, effectively silencing the dragon.

The quiet was short lived though, as a few moments later she heard the dragon's annoying voice again. "Did I upset you?"

"Why don't you just fight me so I can kill you?" Cynder said still scanning the area for the dragon.

"A chance to fight with the one whom I was modeled after?" Trias asked.

Cynder still looked around trying to find the dragon who seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at once. Suddenly, she heard a voice in her ear. "I wouldn't miss it."

Cynder spun as quickly as lightning, but her claws hit nothing but air. She saw the dragon leaping backward, and out of her range. Another smile crossed Trias face, and the tell-tale crackle followed. Cynder dove from her spot, but the lightning impacted the ground next to her, the force of the explosion sending her tumbling across the grass, stunned but far from any real damage.

"Perhaps I was wrong about your reflexes." Trias said. "But this is still a lacking performance. Where is the great Cynder that Malefor told us about, he fed us tales of your slaughters, and your triumphs? The terror of the skies they called you, but now all I see is a weak dragoness."

"Come face me then if I'm so weak!" Cynder shouted. There was no reply, and the dragoness braced herself as she knew that the yellow dragon was probably headed her way now. She listened to everything around her but heard nothing out of the ordinary.

Suddenly, the dragoness felt her paws move out from under her, and she was on her side, Trias' tail having tripped her up. The yellow scaled dragon wasted no time in firing another lightning bolt, this one point blank, into the black dragoness. This time though she had no escape.

Trias looked at the dragoness in disgust. "Pathetic."

Astir flew over the blackened landscape below him, Reave, Krista, and Erutos following close behind him. The four dragons had entered the Burned Lands, and were now nearing the volcano that would be necessary to use the Scale of Raknos. The black dragon could feel its energy pulsing as he neared the massive volcano, as if it was calling out to him to use it.

"Astir what are we going to do about the scale?" Reave asked breaking the silence for the first time since the flight had begun.

Astir turned his head to look at the dragon as though his remark was ridiculous. "What do you think we are going to do with it?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.

"I mean what do you plan to do, about the curse on that thing." Reave clarified.

Astir thought for a moment before realizing what the dragon was speaking about. "Right Karik, I forgot about that stupid ghost."

"He protects that scale and makes sure that no one activates its powers." Krista explained.

"I know the legend." Astir said rudely as he didn't like being spoken to as though he was a whelp. "If he shows up then I guess we will have to deal with him."

"Do you think that we can?" Erutos asked. "I mean he killed Raknos, what chance do we have?"

Astir shook his head. "You doubt me?" He asked, and Erutos quickly shook his head to avoid any conflict. "If that sorry excuse for a dragon shows his spiritual face, I'll take care of him. We are, after all, Malefor's successors, and we are the ones that will end this world. This is the day that we will achieve that goal, and no ice dragon ghost is going to stop me!" Astir yelled.

"I hope you're right, otherwise we are all as good as dead." Erutos muttered.

The four flew onward in silence the rest of the way, the volcano that they had to reach was not very far into the Burned Lands, and it only took them a few minutes to reach the edge of the molten crater.

The dragons landed without problems, and peered over the edge into the thick molten lava that bubbled, and steamed.

As they stood on the rim Astir looked down to the scale and noted that it was indeed glowing. A blue aura surrounded the scale and continued to grow. The essence of Karik was indeed inside the scale. A ghostly image of the dragon appeared in front of them its head sweeping back and forth in order to few them all individually.

"Who are you and why have you brought that scale here?" The image asked in an icy voice.

None of the dragons responded to the ghostly image, Astir looked the dragon up and down, as he knew that there was no way to avoid a fight with the protector of the scale.

"If you will not answer then I can only assume the worst." The dragon said as it bent down into a fighting stance.

The four dragons readied themselves as well as well preparing for any sort of fight that was to come. Killing Karik would not be easy, but there goal was so close that they could not just stop now.


	23. Chapter 22

**A/N: So this took forever, hopefully it's written okay. Also I feel I should say that updates are going to be weird because at least for the next two weeks I don't have a laptop. Anyway enjoy.**

Cynder coughed as the dust cleared. The black dragoness could feel the thick blood in her mouth and a tingle in her body. Trias had struck her dead on with lightning, sending her into a stunned state. The dragoness' head bobbed as she was on the tip of consciousness from the devastating blow.

Somewhere far away Cynder heard the rushing of wind, and knew that she had to move to avoid another hit, one that would more than likely kill her. The dragoness struggled with her body for a split second before willing herself to roll away. As she did Trias' tail stabbed the dirt where she had been.

"Obnoxious little bitch, I'm done playing." Trias growled as he yanked his tail from the soil, and stalked towards the dragoness, who was breathing heavily as she tried to shake off her weariness.

Cynder breathed a wave of shadow fire, the black flames washing over the area around Trias. Cynder watched in surprise, and fear as Trias stood amongst the fire, seemingly unharmed. As Cynder watched the dragon in horror the yellow dragon slowly moved forward before leaping into the air. The yellow dragon snapped his body upwards before bringing it back down in a controlled dive. He landed right in front of Cynder, and lashed out with his claws, but to his surprise the black dragoness was nowhere to be seen.

In the few seconds that she had been allowed Cynder had rolled to the side, and was now behind the dragon. Cynder leapt forward, and bashed the dragon's side with her head, sending a confused Trias across the ground, and into a nearby tree.

As quickly as the yellow dragon had fallen he got back up, and luckily for him he was just in time. The yellow colored dragon pushed himself into the air and watched as corrosive green acid sprayed the tree he had been leaning on, melting away the bark of the tree in mere seconds. With a quick maneuver of his wings the dragon rolled through the air, turning his body as he went. As he had planned he landed right next to Cynder, and he subsequently fired a spray of lightning.

The black dragoness jumped to the side, but found that she wasn't quite quick enough. She felt one streak of lightning graze her body. Although the contact was minimal she could feel that portion of her hide sizzle and burn from the strike.

From only inches away the dragoness let out a deep growl, and dived forward. She caught Trias in her talons, and toppled him sending them both onto the ground. The two dragons began to grapple with each other. In the flurry of talons and teeth, but neither of the two seemed to get the upper hand. They were seemingly evenly matched, after only a few minutes of grappling the two were still at a stalemate, but neither seemed to be tiring.

Suddenly, Cynder heard the tell-tale crackle of lightning, and without a second thought she kicked her back legs sending the lightning dragon forward and over her head. The bolt of lightning thundered out of Trias maw, and jolted into the ground right behind Cynder, the impact of the blow sending dirt, and dust into the dragoness' eyes. Cynder rolled over and shook her head trying to rid herself of the blinding dirt. The dragoness blinked through the soil, and found her vision wavering and watery at best. She could vaguely make out Trias across from her and she thought that he was moving closer.

Thinking quickly the dragoness summoned her power and the wind began to pick up all around her. The air moved quicker and quicker until it seemed as though she was in the middle of a tornado, the air forming a funnel around her. After a moment the strong winds did there job and the loose dirt broke away from the dragoness' eyes. The second the dirt was gone Cynder's eyes snapped open, and with a thrust of her body and wings, the sphere of wind rushed forward catching Trias by surprise.

The strong breeze knocked the dragon into the air, sending him on a short and unbalanced flight. Trias fell back to earth with a dull thud. As the yellow dragon pulled himself back up Cynder knocked him across the grassy earth, to where he lay still.

Cynder let out a sigh of relief, and hung her head, letting the weariness set in. The fight had tired her out, and she could hardly keep herself standing. The dragoness raised her head back up to make sure that Trias was in fact knocked out or at least out of commission for the moment. To the dragoness' surprise the yellow dragon was already on his feet, and walking slowly towards her.

"How did you?" The black dragoness stuttered as she backed away from the yellow dragon.

"You didn't think that a little hit like that would kill me did you?" Trias asked seemingly disappointed. "Come now, I have something to show you." The dragon said as his body began to sizzle with lightning. "Trust me this is going to blow you away." The dragon said with a smile.

Solris' eyes slid back and forth checking the forest around her. The apes in the vicinity had already surprised them before by hiding and waiting to attack, a tactic that was often not employed by apes, leading Solris to believe that someone much more intelligent was leading this attack. The black dragoness' head swiveled back and forth, constantly on the lookout. After a moment her eyes came to rest on Azshea. The red dragoness hadn't noticed her, as she was too busy with her thoughts.

Solris gave a sigh, as she was still upset that Azshea was so opposed to her presence. While the red dragoness didn't look up Aegis on the other hand was watching Solris' every move. The dragon trusted Solris, but he couldn't let his guard down completely yet.

"What's wrong Solris?" Aegis asked quietly as he didn't want to draw any unwanted attention.

"I was just thinking about you guys." The black dragoness responded.

Aegis stared at her with a confused look, but didn't say anything, although he was wondering what she was talking about exactly.

Solris immediately saw the look and shook her head. "Sorry that probably sounded weird, I meant about the situation that we are in." The dragoness explained.

"Oh, the awkwardness you mean?" Aegis asked.

"Yeah that, I just don't know what to do." Solris said as her eyes went back to Azshea who had not yet heard them.

"I don't really know what to tell you. I wish I did, but I think this is something that you and Azshea have to work out yourselves." Aegis explained sadly. The dragon noticed Solris' head droop in disappointment as she had been hoping for an answer to her problem. "But, hey Solris, I can tell you that she doesn't hate you. She is just confused, with all that's happened lately, and that fact that you did kill he mother. Azshea just needs some time." Aegis said, with a small smile.

"What did you say?"

Both Aegis and Solris froze. They had forgotten that Azshea was even there, and she had apparently overheard them.

"We were just making conversation." Aegis lied quickly trying to cover up the real conversation.

"About me?" Azshea asked cocking a brow.

"No, we where just…" Solris trailed off as she couldn't find an answer to the dragoness' question.

"You shouldn't lie." Azshea said with a slight scowl. "It will only make me like you less."

"Do you even like me at all?" Solris asked suddenly.

There was a long pause before the red dragoness gave a response. "I don't know anymore." She said before looking away.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Solris pressed, trying to keep her tone calm.

"I mean that I'm not sure if I can accept you as a friend now." Azshea said. "After the things that you have done."

"I told you I'm sorry." Solris said trying to keep her cool as the old subject came back to haunt her.

"That's not enough!" Azshea said her tone suddenly rising.

"Then what is enough?" Solris asked just as loudly to match the crimson dragoness.

Azshea didn't get a chance to respond as an ape dropped from the trees. A large battle axe landing where Azshea had been standing. The red dragoness smirked at the ape before blasting it off its feet with a wave of fire. Seemingly out of nowhere, more apes began to pile down from the trees, landing all around the dragons.

"Shit, more of them? This is starting to get on my nerves." Aegis growled as he bent low, readying himself for a fight. The lightning dragon didn't have to wait long for a fight as one of the nearby apes jumped straight for him. The dragon twisted to the side, and ducked under the airborne ape. The beast landed; slightly confused that he had not in fact landed on his enemy. He hardly had time to consider it though as Aegis tackled it from behind and shredded through its flesh in mere seconds. Moments later Aegis looked up from his fresh kill to see another ape sprinting towards him, its weapon, a serrated axe, raised high.

Aegis hardly flinched at the being. The dragon took no time at all in spitting out a powerful lightning bolt, which tossed the ape through the air; he was dead before he touched down.

Azshea breathed a wave of fire scorching one ape that was directly in front of her. As the smoldering body fell to the ground she turned to face her next opponents. Two ape stood side-by-side. The dragoness sidestepped a heavy axe that came swooshing down upon her. After the axe had become stuck in the ground the scarlet dragoness snapped her body forward, weaving herself around the other ape's weapon and ramming it with her horns. The blow sent the monster into the dirt where he struggled to get back up.

Azshea took no time in turning to the other poor ape who still had its axe stuck in the soil, and was trying in futility to pull it out. The red dragoness swiped with her claws twice leaving six massive scratches across the ape's body. As its blood began to flow freely the ape fell to its knees and soon after, the ground.

Seeing that the ape was dead Azshea turned to the first one she had attacked, and spat a ball of fire to finish the job. The dragoness was so preoccupied with her kills that she didn't even notice a much larger threat approaching from behind her.

A large ape, at least double the size of the rest stood behind Azshea. The ape's body was covered in tattoos, and war paint. The most distinguished thing about the ape was its breastplate; the metal plate covered most of its upper body. An unusual armor for any ape to wear as most went into battle unprotected. In his hand he held a massive hammer, which looked capable of sending someone to their death with just one well-aimed blow.

At the last possible second Azshea ducked to the side as the hammer smashed down into the earth. The scarlet dragoness whirled herself around to face her new foe. As Azshea turned though, she had to move once again as the ape swung its hammer down once again. Her opponent was proving to have a significant amount of speed especially for his massive size, as he swung the weapon as if it were a twig.

As Azshea tried to come up with an attack plan, she had to move once again as the hammer plowed into the ground. This time the weapon nicked her leg, and although the impact was small it sent her spiraling through the air to land roughly on her side. As Azshea pushed herself to her feet the ape stalked over to her, and raised its weapon. The red dragoness saw the ape bring its hammer down with devastating force. She willed her body to move, but found that it was impossible for her to escape her fate.

As the hammer sped towards her the ape suddenly seemed to loose balance, and the weapon swung wide smashing into the ground next to Azshea's face. The dragoness blinked as she looked at the stone mallet that lay inches from her face. The red dragoness wasted no time, though in getting to her feet to see what had happened. When she got her bearings Azshea looked to where the ape had last been. Now, over only a few seconds the ape had fallen to the ground, and a black dragoness was on top of it tearing the beast to shreds. Azshea immediately felt her temperature rise at the thought of being saved by that particular dragoness made her blood boil. After a moment though the dragoness started to consider other factors, here she was being saved by a dragoness that she claimed to hate. Perhaps she had been wrong. Realizing that she didn't have time for the thoughts the crimson dragoness shook the thoughts from her head, and sprinted off towards another battle.

The three dragons cleared the area relatively fast after that. The apes seemed to lose momentum before they had even gained it, and soon they were all retreating back into the forest were they wouldn't feel the dragon's painful assault.

Each of the dragons had come out relatively unharmed. Aegis only held a few scratches on his body, while Azshea and Solris were only bruised a small bit. After checking to make sure that the area was clear Azshea turned to Solris. The black dragoness noticed this out of the corner of her eye but chose to ignore it, as she figured it was just going to be another argument, one that she doubted she would handle calmly.

"Solris, I-

"What? What is it now Azshea? Are you here to tell me how horrible of a dragoness I am again?" The black dragoness fumed. At that moment it took all of Azshea's willpower to not scream back at her. Aegis only stood off to the side, stunned and worried. He wasn't sure what would happen, but with the pattern that had been going on before he figured it couldn't be good.

"No, actually I had something else to say." Azshea said forcing a calm tone.

"Oh, and what's that?" Solris said still doubtful.

Azshea gave a sigh, as if she was choking on her words. As the dragoness stalled with her sentences she felt a prick on her backside. When she turned with her teeth bared, she found Aegis closely examining the trees in front of him, his tail and its pointed tip waving slowly in the air.

The dragoness turned back to Solris and gave another sigh. "I'm sorry." She said simply.

"Sorry for what?" Solris pressed hoping for the dragoness to be more specific.

"Don't push it." Azshea hissed, but a moment later her tone melted away. "But you're right, I owe you an apology. I said some things that I shouldn't have."

There was a long pause between the two and there was no noise in the small thicket for what seemed like a long time. Aegis had to stop himself from turning around to see the two, to make sure that they weren't getting ready to start fighting again.

"It's fine." Solris said finally, looking away as she said the words.

"You shouldn't lie." The red dragoness said her tone calm and when Solris turned to look at her she nodded her head. "How do you really feel?"

"I feel like I want to hit you." Solris growled. Although not a moment later she had collected herself once again. "I'm sorry that wouldn't really solve anything and I know it."

"It might." Azshea said. "If that's what you need to do then go ahead and do it."

"No, we have all been fighting, it wouldn't be right, to hurt someone even more." Solris said shaking her head all the while.

"Are you sure?" Azshea pressed and Solris nodded her head in response.

"I think I was wrong about you Solris, perhaps you aren't what I made you out to be." Azshea said cracking a small smile.

"Even though I killed your mother." Solris asked bluntly. Aegis flinched at the statement and Azshea had begun to take deep breaths her smile disappearing immediately. "I'm not saying that to bring up bad memories, Azshea if we are going to start anew then I want to do it right." The dragoness explained, and after a moment she continued. "Can you forgive me for doing what I did?" Solris asked cocking her head to the side.

There was another long pause, but this time Aegis did turn his head to watch them, worried that a fight would break out. He found though that neither had moved, and it seemed as though all the forest noises around them had stopped.

"I don't know if I can forgive you for that right now." Azshea said breaking the silence. "But I can see that you had reason to do what you did. Ashe was obviously trying to convert me, and also kill you."

"I still want to say that I'm sorry, about what happened. If I could have I would have found another way to stop Ashe." Solris said solemnly.

"It's okay like I said it wasn't your fault." The dragoness said sincerely. "How about we keep moving now, we still have to find the others." Azshea said. Solris nodded in response, the black dragoness could tell that then and there Azshea had been truthful. She had finally overcome her grudge, and now they could start over. Solris could only hope that it would go well.

Aegis watched as the two walked together through the forest. He said nothing as he figured that it was not his place. The dragon just smiled to himself, happy about what had just transpired.

Aegis' head jolted towards the sky as there was an abrupt crackle, and a stem of lightning flashed down into the forest not to far from his location. The boom of thunder hurt his ears, and he could feel the static discharge from the bolt flow through his body. The dragon shivered before turning back to Azshea and Solris.

"Did you do that?" Solris asked confused.

"No, but I imagine that is where we should go." Aegis said without missing a beat.

"No arguments there." Azshea said before sprinting off towards the spot that they had seen.

Spyro dodged out of the way of one ape's weapon while being caught in the back by a different creature. The purple dragon didn't want to admit it but he was outnumbered and if he didn't turn the tides soon he would be dead.

Spyro slashed the nearest ape to him sending it stumbling away. Almost before he had completed the movement the dragon jumped into the air and rolled into a ball. With surprising speed Spyro hurtled towards the ground, smashing the earth underneath him. The soil shot out in solid jutting columns sending apes flying in all directions, and giving the purple dragon some breathing room.

Wasting no time Spyro continued to use his elements to fit each situation blasting apes back with lightning or fire. All the while he wondered where Icryious was, the dragon had disappeared a little while ago, but with this many apes around Spyro hardly expected him to be alive anymore.

As if on queue Icryious burst through a pile of apes. The ice dragon had many cuts and wounds on his hide, Spyro couldn't tell from the distance that he was at how major they were. The purple dragon just continued to fight against the onslaught hoping that soon the apes would back down or lose what little courage they had.

Icryious appeared with his claws covered in blood. The ice dragon tore at the apes closest to him savagely. Any creature unlucky enough to be caught near to him perished moments later in none to pleasant way.

The ice dragon slowly made his way up to Spyro who was continuing to fight off anyone that came close enough to him. As the two dragons got close to one another it became easier to maneuver as they could cover each other. The apes too seemed to notice this fact as more of their comrades fell to the two seemingly invincible dragons. As more and more fell it became apparent to the apes of just how badly they were losing this fight.

There was a shrill cry from one ape, and all of the beasts slowly began to back away from the dragons, they didn't break into a frenzied retreat, but they obviously knew that they were outmatched in this fight.

As the apes backed away and went out of sight Spyro and Icryious fell down, each worn out by the excessive amount of fighting that had just taken place. "Don't tell me that you guys are going to die now." They heard a familiar voice say. Neither dragon moved as they didn't feel like lifting their limbs any longer.

"No you're okay, aren't you buddy?" Sparx asked as he flew right into Spyro's face and patted him a few times.

"Sparx where have you been this whole time?" Spyro asked not bothering to move anything besides his eyes, as they stung from the bright light Sparx was emitting.

"Hiding, I'm just happy that one of those apes didn't find me, and try to eat me." Sparx explained with a nervous chuckle.

"Do you know where Cynder is?" Spyro asked, and the dragonfly gave him a pouting look.

"It's good to know that you value her safety over mine." Sparx responded sarcastically.

"Sparx." Spyro said reiterating the question, with just the one word.

"I don't know where she's at; I was too worried about my own hide to look at hers." Sparx said his shoulders drooping. "Sorry bud."

"Don't worry about it, we'll find her." Spyro said as he tried to keep himself from worrying.

"Then we had best get moving." Icryious said as he got to all fours again.

Spyro nodded before following his lead. "Where do you think we should start looking?" Spyro asked, as he looked all around the vicinity.

"No, idea, she could be anywhere around here." Icryious said.

"Then I guess we'll ha-

The dragon cut himself off as he watched a massive streak of lightning shoot down into the ground not to far away from where he was. The dragon felt the energy course through his bones, leaving a numb feeling in his body, but he ignored the feeling.

"I think that's where we should start." The purple dragon stated as he looked to the place with worried eyes.

"No, really?" Sparx asked sarcastically.

"Let's just go." Icryious said before sprinting away, Spyro and Sparx in tow.

The lightning energy exploded in the small thicket. The force of the catastrophe sent Cynder flying backwards. The dragoness soared through the air, and fell back to the hard ground. The drop leaving her sprawled out across the ground.

Cynder coughed up blood, the red liquid staining the green grass below her. She groaned as she felt pain shoot through her body, followed closely by a numbing feeling that coursed through her skin.

The dragoness wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball until she felt better, but she knew that it wouldn't be an option. Whatever power that Trias had summoned it had left her injured, but Cynder was sure that Trias was perfectly okay.

The dragoness theory was confirmed when she heard Trias talking seemingly from right next to her. "Cynder dear, I expected more from you than that." The voice chided. "Did that lightning hurt, because to be honest that was only the beginning."

Cynder heard the dragon's voice and tried to strengthen her resolve to get back up. As the dragoness struggled on the ground, Trias looked down on her and laughed sadistically.

"Do you really want to go through the same thing again?" Trias asked. "Well, I guess I could go for one more round." The dragon snickered.

The golden dragon wasted no time in spitting another bolt of lightning at the dragoness sending more waves of numbing pain through her body, and causing the dragoness to cry out. As Trias raised his paw again to strike at the dragoness he got a surprise. Solris tackled him from his side, sending both dragons across the ground, each grappling with the other.

Azshea sprinted up to Cynder, and brought her head down to hers. "Cynder are you alright?" She asked hastily, as Aegis came up next to her.

"Ye-yeah, I'm just a lit-little jostled." The black dragoness stuttered before coughing some more, although much less blood came up this time.

"Azshea I'm going to go and help Solris, you stay here." Aegis said before taking off towards the two brawling dragons.

Solris kicked and scratched at the dragon in futility, as neither dragon got off any major hits. After a moment Trias kicked out with his hind legs separating the two and ending their grapple.

Aegis sprang forward towards Trias who had only moments before thrown Solris from his form. The battered yellow dragon sidestepped allowing Aegis to land gracefully next to him. Despite his tiredness the golden dragon managed to pump out a plume of lightning, the energy smashing forward into Aegis, and working to devastating effect, sending the sunny scaled dragon through the air. Trias took a moment to admire his work as he saw electricity hop all across Aegis' body.

The dragon was rudely interrupted though as Solris sprung back into the fight. The dragoness tackled the yellow dragon again scoring a few hits on his skin before leaping away to avoid another grapple.

The black dragoness hovered in the air as she watched Trias get back up. The golden dragon glared up at her with fiery eyes.

"Your treachery knows no bounds I see." The dragon growled.

"I have only worked to correct my mistakes." Solris said in response.

"Call it what you will, but you have in fact ended your allegiance to the seven, I hope it was worth it."

"I don't need you anymore, in fact I don't think I ever did." Solris spat.

"Fine, but I do hope that you have thought this through." Trias said, and the comment struck a chord with the dragoness, as it sounded odd. It was as if Trias actually cared about what happened to her, and almost immediately Solris knew he was planning something.

"What do you mean?" Solris asked voicing the question in her mind.

"Don't tell me you don't see it." Trias laughed. The yellow dragon looked to Aegis who was still on the ground. The dragon seemed to be curling into a ball to get rid of the pain that was wracking his body. "These dragons aren't your friends. They will turn on you as soon as this task is done." Trias explained, as he looked to Azshea and Cynder. The black dragoness was still recovering from her previous injuries, but Azshea was staring at the yellow dragon with narrowed eyes. "Face it; you will never be liked by anyone. You would be a fool to think-

The dragon was suddenly silenced as he tumbled across the grass. Solris had to blink a few times before she could register what had happened. Azshea had in fact sprinted forward and slammed the yellow dragon with her tail, sending him to the ground in an instant.

"Shut your mouth!" Azshea hissed.

"Oh, did I hit a nerve? I'm really surprised, she is the one that killed your mother, and here you are defending her." Trias said as he picked himself up.

"I said shut up!" Azshea yelled as she breathed a wave of fire, which Trias prompted dodged.

Although Trias had moved out of the way of the first blast of fire Azshea was relentless in her assault. The dragoness slashed and clawed at the lightning dragon for the next few minutes giving him no rest. Although the furious attack was deadly, Trias managed to move out of the dragoness' way every time, as her blind rage was doing little to help her score a hit. While he was dodging all of Azshea's attacks Trias could not find the time to get in his own attack.

Solris floated in the air beating her wings slightly to stay afloat. The dragoness had been put off guard by the things Trias had said and by the dragons fighting below her, and it took her a moment to regain her senses. After a few seconds the dragoness dived out of the sky and flew straight for the Trias.

Trias ducked one the swipe of Azshea's claw. As he moved out of the way he heard the swoosh of air above him and rolled to his right. The yellow dragon found that he had been correct to do so as Solris' tail blade cut into the earth where he had been standing. The black dragoness yanked the blade from the ground, and stalked forward with killing intent.

"I think it is time that I take my leave." Trias said grinning at the two dragoness's. With a small jump backwards, and a burst of his wings the dragon lifted himself into the air.

Solris personally thought him dumb, as he was trying to escape dragons by flying, a wind dragoness too none the less. The black dragoness crouched down, readying her body to follow after him. Just as she was about to leap after the dragon she stopped herself, as she saw Trias get knocked out of the sky.

Spyro rammed into the yellow dragon from behind sending him tumbling back to the earth. Spyro landed on the ground, and stood menacingly over the dragon, ready to kill him if need be.

"I see that the purple dragon joins us now." Trias coughed mockingly as he tried to regain his lost wind.

"Shut your trap while I kill you." The dragon spat, while he raised his tail.

"Fine, go ahead and kill me, but it would be a pity if you didn't hear what I had to say about Solris." Trias said nonchalantly.

"I think we have heard more than enough of that." Aegis said as he walked over to the fallen dragon. The golden scaled dragon seemed perfectly okay now, even if he had suffered the earlier lightning strike. All of the dragons guessed that it had something to do with the fact that Aegis was a lightning dragon himself and that he could simply absorb the energy.

"No, not that, well I guess she never told you. Well, I don't blame her, if someone revealed that secret she would be ostracized for sure." Trias said as his eyes fell on Solris who seemed to have gone stiff as she knew what he was talking about.

"I said be quiet!" Spyro snapped.

"If you really meant that you would have shut me up by now, or killed me." Trias said turning his attention to the purple dragon and calling his bluff. "You may not admit it, but you all want to know, what I have to say."

None of the dragons answered as they didn't even know what to say. They simply stood there waiting for Trias to tell them what he knew. In reality he was right, they did want to know about Solris, since they knew so little as they did.

"In short Astir controls Solris. You don't know it, but she died." Trias explained. "After she died Astir brought her back from the grave. The item that Astir used to do it was an artifact and now he can control her, and even look and hear what she does."

None of the dragons said anything they just stared at Trias wondering if his story was true, and if it was what they should do about it. Solris also said nothing, figuring that anything she said wouldn't help her now.

"She has basically been our spy this whole time. How do you think we knew where to find you or what to do. We could plan ahead; we could use her to our advantage, and to think you all thought she was your fr-

The dragon's words turned into a gurgle. Trias hardly had time to register Spyro's tail blade in his throat, before the last of his life slipped from his body. The purple dragon's eyes were narrowed, and he pulled his tail back out, leaving the yellow dragon dead on the ground.

All eyes turned to Spyro, none of them were used to this kind of violence from him. The violet dragon however, ignored their stares and his eyes locked on Solris. "Is what he said true?"

Solris didn't answer and gave no indication that she had even heard the dragon speak at all.

Upon seeing this Spyro seemed to lose his temper. "Solris!" The purple dragon shouted, and Solris raised her head in shock, staring at the dragon with wide orbs. "Was he telling the truth?" The dragon asked again, his voice turning into a growl.

The black dragoness didn't move for the longest time. She felt everyone's eyes on her, and she felt her body go numb. She had to know that this would happen, but not now, not when she had just begun to gain all of their trust. The dragoness nodded solemnly unable to speak.

"And you didn't tell us?" Aegis asked angrily.

"I'm sorry; I know I shouldn't have kept it a secret!" The dragoness said.

"Then why did you?" Spyro asked as he obviously tried to control his temper.

"I…I…didn't want to lose you all." The dragoness stuttered.

"So instead you put us all in danger?" Icryious asked.

There was a pause as all of the dragons exchanged looks. None of them were really sure what to do. Solris had proven herself to be a valuable fighter, along with a trustworthy dragon, up until now. Even so if she was actually helping the seven she was a potential threat that had to be dealt with.

"What do you want me to say?" She asked suddenly. "Don't you think that if I could change things then I would? I didn't choose to be killed, or to be controlled, I would want nothing more than for it to end!" The dragoness said seemingly desperate.

"That doesn't change this situation though." Spyro said.

"So is that it then? You're going to kill me?" The dragoness asked staring hard at Spyro. "Fine, do what you will; I have no intention to fight you." The dragoness said before sitting on her haunches resigning to her fate.

"We aren't going to kill Solris." Cynder said as she slowly walked over, her body still weak from Trias' lightning attack. Her comment drew the eyes of her fellow companions, although Solris didn't seem notice.

"She's helped us now its time for us to return the favor." Cynder said.

"Haven't we already done that?" Azshea muttered, although it was loud enough for Cynder to pick up.

The black dragoness ignored the comment and continued on. "Besides its not like it matters now, and killing her won't change anything because Astir already knows that we are coming." Cynder explained.

There was a long pause as each of the dragons considered her words. "Cynder is right, I'm upset with myself for even considering the other option." Spyro said after having thought it all over, and Solris cringed at the idea. "I'm sorry Solris." As Spyro said the words the other dragons murmured the same sentence, all ashamed that they had been so rash. It was true that Solris could not control what had happened and therefore, they could not truly blame her.

"You don't have to be sorry, if anything I should still be apologizing." Solris said.

"I do want to say though, if Astir takes control of you, I won't hesitate to-

"I understand." The dragoness interrupted not wanting to hear the end of the statement. "But I don't think he can do anything unless he is close to me."

"You would know best." Spyro said. "For now though lets go, we still have to find Astir and stop him, hopefully we aren't too late."

"Move!" Astir yelled as he, and his companions dived out of the way of another one of Karik's swipes.

The ghostly dragon had been swinging, and missing for a few good minutes. Despite his size he was surprisingly fast, leaving the dragons to dodge, and never return a strike. Now was their first chance.

Astir sprinted forward and dived at Karik's crest, hoping to latch on, and score a few hits. To his surprise though the dragon flew right through the dragon, upon instinct Astir beat his wings, which proved to be his saving grace as he glided over the lava that was flowing in the volcano below him. He could feel the overwhelming heat, and quickly pulled away having no desire to melt in the scorching lava, as he lifted himself up he spun his body around in the air so that he was facing Karik once more.

Astir was confused to find the ghostly dragon staring back at him. His phantasmal body pointed straight for him. "You did not think it would be that easy did you?"

Astir growled, as the dragon's face twisted into a smile. The black dragon hardly had time to be angry though as he rolled through the air. In the place where he had just been a beam of bluish energy shot through the air, just missing the dragon. Astir watched the energy fade before turning back to Karik with a confused look.

The dragon wasn't watching him though as he had turned back to the others to fight with them. Krista, Reave, and Erutos all maneuvered their way around the large dragon's attacks. Each moving gracefully out of the way of the ghostly dragon's attacks, but Astir had to wonder if the dragon could even hurt them. If Astir had gone straight through the ghost then wouldn't he technically have to do the same thing?

Suddenly, an idea came to mind, it would be risky but if they were to get anywhere he would have to try. The black dragon pushed himself forward cutting through the air at high speed.

Within seconds the dragon landed skidding across the ground until he was facing Karik. The ethereal dragon's misty orbs locked on him, and Karik lifted his paw to strike. Astir stood still as the paw rushed towards him. He heard his friends tell him to move, but he ignored their pleas. As the massive claw neared Astir moved his body forward a bit, causing the claw to hit his body, but he avoided the sharp claws that would do the most damage.

The dragon felt the paw connect with his body, and he was sent tumbling across the ground. Fortunately, the dragon had thought ahead, and aimed his short flight so that he passed through the ghostly dragon's leg.

Astir pulled himself to his feet with a smile on his face; the aching feeling in his side was well worth it. The dragon quickly maneuvered himself away from Karik and outside his range. When he got there Reave looked at him questioningly.

"What are you doing? You could have easily dodged that." Reave said looking at the dragon curiously.

"I know that, but I got hit on purpose." Astir explained. "You see Karik is using some sort of phasing technique. His body is normal a ghost, and therefore untouchable. When he strikes though he has to phase his body, turning that part of himself corporal."

"So you're saying that we have to strike at him when he strikes at us?" Krista asked, and Astir nodded in response.

"Sounds fun." Reave grumbled.

As Karik's paw came back in a sweeping arc, all of the dragons moved except for Astir, who instead stood his ground, ready to try his new theory. He saw Karik smile, and he had to keep himself from laughing at the oblivious dragon. As the paw neared Astir jumped horizontally away from the deadly claws. The move was only to soften the blow, and it worked as Astir had hoped it would. The black dragon latched himself onto the paw. The leathery skin exposed to the dragon. Astir began his work immediately digging into the skin with his teeth and claws, he even used his tail a little, although it was more to keep himself attached than anything.

After a few moments the phantasmal dragon phased his paw out again, and Astir fell back to the ground. The black dragon landed gracefully satisfied with the damage he had done. He looked back to the dragon with a smug stare, which caused Karik's eyes to narrow.

Moments later Astir was in the air again, as a beam of energy crashed down on top of his position. All of the dragons were suddenly jumping and rolling all around as they tried to dodge the beams of energy that were shooting all around them.

Krista rolled to her right as blue energy exploded around her. The dragoness got back up as quickly as she could, and moved behind a pile of rocks to give herself some cover. After a moment she peeked out from behind the stones to see the fight continue. She was thankful to see that Karik had turned his attention towards Reave. The dragoness shifted her eyes back to Karik after a moment and realized one thing that none of them had yet tried. Krista sprinted forward, although her movement didn't go unnoticed. Karik turned back to Krista as she was nearing the dragon, and spat three rays of bluish light.

The ice dragoness jumped forward passing just underneath the first ray. Just as she was landing the dragoness had to roll away from another wave of light. As she came back to her paws the dragoness took a deep breath before spitting shards of ice at the ghostly dragon.

The ice sped through the air before smashing into Karik, and to the dragoness' surprise her element actually impacted the dragon, causing him to recoil. The dragoness gave a smile before launching a few more spikes at the dragon, these shards having the same effect as the previous ones.

"He isn't immune to our elemental attacks!" Krista yelled, filling in the others to her discovery.

When she turned back to the dragon she loosed a cloud of frost that floated away towards Karik. The dragoness fired a few more icy spikes into the frost cloud for good measure before taking up a defensive stance, and waiting for the cloud to leave.

For a few minutes she could hear the sounds of the others fighting. The sounds were comforting and frightening at the same time. As long as they where fighting Krista at least knew that they were alive and able to fight alongside her, the last thing she wanted was to fight by herself.

Suddenly, the sounds stopped, not all at once but one right after the other. Krista's body tensed as reality began to set in. Her friends had most likely just died, or were at the least injured, why else would they stop fighting.

"Astir?" She yelled hoping for a response.

After a few seconds a voice pierced the silence. "What do you want Krista?"

Although he sounded irritated Krista felt herself loosen up. At least Astir hadn't died during whatever had happened. In reality the dragons had stopped fighting because Karik had disappeared. The dragons were now turning circles trying to locate him.

"Foolish girl." A voice whispered in her ear.

Krista jumped in fright and hurtled away from the sound. Upon landing she turned around and found Karik pouncing upon her with frightening speed.

All of a sudden, there was a piercing scream. Astir turned to face it, and just as he locked onto the sound it ended abruptly. He recognized it for Krista's voice, and he knew that it couldn't be good.

The black dragon looked to Reave and Erutos, who were standing next to him, both equally as curious about the scream. "Come on, let's go!" Astir snapped, bringing them from their trance. The dragons sprinted off towards where they thought Krista to be.

It only took them a few moments to get there, after a few seconds of searching they found the blue dragoness on the ground, seemingly passed out.

Astir was the first to her side; he reached her and began to push her gently, hoping to wake her, but figuring that it would be no use, if she was passed out she wouldn't wake that easily. To the dragon's surprise Krista's eyes shot open, and the dragoness sat up halfway.

"Krista what happened, where's Karik?" Astir asked confused.

"What? I…I don't know." Krista stuttered.

"Then he must be around here somewhere." Reave said as he scanned the perimeter, Erutos joining him in the search.

"Then what happened to you Krista?" Astir asked as he helped the dragoness to her paws.

"I'm…I don't…I don't know, the last thing I saw was Karik, leaping right at me." Krista said.

"Well, he's gone now, but we have to find him before he gets the drop on us." Astir stated before turning away from the dragoness.

As Astir turned around to look at his surroundings, he didn't notice the devilish smile form on Krista's face. "Oh, don't worry; I'm sure you'll find him." Krista said in a raspy voice, as she readied herself to jump on the dragon's back.

As soon as the words left her mouth Astir knew that something was wrong. His eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. Not even seconds later Krista had leapt upon his back, and was sinking her teeth into his neck.

The black dragon roared, and lifted himself up onto his back legs, before tumbling backwards. The angle caused him to land on Krista making her gasp, and release her hold on his neck. The black dragon rolled from the spot, as Krista got back to her paws.

"What the hell is going on?" Reave asked angrily, as he stared at Krista.

"I should have known." Astir said as he stared at Krista. "She's possessed." The dragon explained, and to further prove his point, as Krista stared at them her eyes began to glow a deep blue.

The dragoness cracked another devilish smile. "What do you plan to do now? Are you willing to kill your own friend just to get at me?"

"If it must be done." Reave said, before lunging forward, and slapping the dragoness into a pile of rocks. Krista didn't even try to dodge the blow, and she crumpled to the ground.

"Yes, go on kill her." Astir said. "But make it slow, and painful." The dragon knew what he was doing. If they could weaken Krista's body enough then Karik would more than likely leave her. He only hoped that he was right, if not Krista would end up dead.

As Astir said the words Krista gave a laugh that all of them knew was not her own. The dragons ignored her, and began to batter the dragoness. She tried to dodge out of the way of the dragon's attacks but found her effort futile, when it was three against one.

Within moments the dragoness had been injured, and had already passed her limit. Krista wobbled on her feet her physical body could no longer take any punishment. The ice dragoness fell over on her side breathing heavily and cringing in pain.

Slowly all of the dragons noticed a bluish mist fade from the dragoness body. They all knew it to be Karik, and upon seeing it they all unleashed their breath attacks hoping to finish the dragon off completely. The spirit squirmed under the energy, but managed to slither away and morph back into its typical form.

The ghostly dragon was obviously weakening. He knew that it was a slim chance that he would actually stop these dragons, who were surprisingly strong. If he took over another body he would most likely not have the energy left to stand, and actually take over the dragon's actions, but the breath attacks were hurting him just as badly, either way it was a downhill battle. The dragon didn't have much time to ponder as he ducked under another blast of shadow fire.

Reave charged forward with abandon. He could sense that his enemy was weak, and he was making sure to exploit the weakness. The large black dragon breathed a gushing wave of shadow fire that seemed to drown Karik.

The ghostly dragon felt his ties to the physical plane waning, and knew that he had lost the fight. Karik let out a sorrowful roar, knowing that he had in fact failed his duty.

The dragons watched as the last wisps of the ghost disintegrated into the atmosphere above them. After they had faded Astir looked to Erutos who was helping Krista to get up. The blue dragoness had taken a beating, and Astir didn't know how long she would be able to hold out for. As he turned away from them Astir's eyes were drawn to the red scale of Raknos, which lay on the hard ground, glowing softly.


	24. Chapter 23 & Epilogue

**A/N: Well here it is, after a month of writing I finally finished it, so enjoy!**

The group of six dragons sped over the environment below them, the burnt black wastelands passing under them in a blur. The wasteland known as the Burned Lands was a twisted black mass of torn land. Amidst the tangle of broken land were many horrors and atrocities, but the dragons who flew overhead where not looking for them this day.

Their attention was instead focused on the path before them. They flew straight for the massive volcano that jutted out of the land. All of the dragons were silent, as the tension built, as they all knew that the final battle was at hand.

All of the dragons were looking dead ahead, all except for Cynder. The dragoness looked back and forth to her friends. Each of them wore determined faces, and while Cynder couldn't disagree with their determination she had to worry a little. Her eyes slid over to stare at Spyro.

Cynder could not deny that she was worried about him. They were already headed towards the fight of their lives, but that was not what was on Cynder's mind at the moment. What she worried about was that the purple dragon could be losing himself. She had seen first-hand the vicious way that he had killed Trias. While it was true that he had to die, the way the dragon had gone about it had sent a chill down her spine. Even now they were on their way to kill more dragons, their own kind.

Suddenly, the dragoness turned to the violet. "Spyro are you feeling alright?"

The purple dragon turned his head to face her with a befuddled look. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" He asked.

"I don't know, I…I just…" The dragoness trailed off, losing her momentum as suddenly as it had built up.

"What is it Cynder? I don't want you to go into this fight with a cluttered mind." Spyro countered, hoping to coax the dragoness into telling him.

After a seemingly long pause the black dragoness turned to face Spyro again. "Spyro, what happened back there-

"What with Solris?" The dragon interrupted thinking he knew what she was talking about.

"No, no, I don't mind that, Solris is on our side despite what anyone says." Cynder explained while shaking her head.

"Then what are you worried about?" Spyro asked while cocking his head to the side.

The dragoness gave a sigh as she didn't want to directly say it, but she saw no other option. "Spyro, what about Trias?" She asked finally.

"What about him?" The violet dragon asked his eyes narrowing.

"He was…he was one of us." The dragoness stuttered.

"What do you mean?" Spyro said not catching on and surprised at the comparison.

"He was a dragon, just like us…and you just killed him." Cynder argued.

"What did you want me to do?" Spyro asked. "I mean I couldn't just leave him there."

"Was there really no other way? Spyro he was one of us, a dragon, our own species." Cynder said, and Spyro just then realized the full depth of her concern.

"Cynder, you have to understand these dragons are not like us. They are corrupted beasts, who put the rest of our race to shame." The dragon countered.

There was a long silence between the two as Cynder's head turned back towards the landscape of blackened hills below them. After a moment she spoke again without turning to face the purple dragon. "I was like them once you know, Solris too."

Spyro sighed. "Cynder you know that we don't think of you as one of them. When you were corrupted by Malefor, it wasn't your fault."

"It wasn't their fault either; they were born into that evil." Cynder countered, the purple dragon's argument doing nothing to change her mood.

"There was a difference though you fought the corruption and you won, Solris too. They accepted their fate; we can't change their mind, not now. If there had been any hint at them changing back to normal I would have acted on it." Spyro said shaking his head.

"I don't know Spyro, I'm not sure if I can just kill another dragon, apes sure, but dragons are…different."

"Then leave that part to us. Cynder one way or another this is going to end, and remember that they won't hesitate to kill you if you don't kill them first." Spyro said his tone turning serious.

There was another long pause between the two. "I guess there isn't any way around it." The dragoness said hanging her head in sorrow.

"Trust me Cynder I don't like it either, I didn't want to kill Trias, but for the world to be rid of this terror we have to kill them." Spyro said in a gentler tone as he tried to reassure her.

Cynder said nothing and only nodded, feeling as though she didn't have the strength to speak.

"Just trust me, we'll get through this." Spyro said letting his wing overlap with Cynder's slightly.

The dragoness gave no response, but Spyro didn't have much he could say to make her feel any better.

The dragons flew on for only a few minutes before they all saw what they were looking for. The volcano that stood under Malefor's lair was belching fire and ash every few moments. Although the dragons were still in the distance they could see small specs, four to be precise, each of them standing on the rim of the volcano. Before them a bluish spirit was disappearing, shattering into thousands of small strands of light.

"There they are!" Spyro shouted above the wind.

"What just happened?" Aegis asked, as he watched the spirit disappear completely.

"I don't know but we have to stop them, now!" Spyro yelled back.

There was a pause of silence as the group flew ever closer to the dark dragons.

"Then we are with you." Cynder said with a slight nod, and a comforting smile.

The others nodded in unison, agreeing with the dragoness fully. They had all come this far and they wouldn't stop now.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Spyro said, more to himself than anyone else. Although the words were said softly Cynder still heard them and smiled.

As the dragons hurtled forward, Astir, by some insane stroke of luck, looked up to see them. The dragon grinned showing his white fangs. His smile didn't go unnoticed, and Reave, curious, followed the dragon's line of sight.

Upon seeing the dragons Reave quickly turned back to Astir. "Throw the scale into the volcano!" He growled forcefully.

"No, not yet." Astir replied still peering at the dragons who were rapidly growing in size.

"Are you crazy?" Reave asked, as the volcano rumbled, shaking the ground beneath their claws.

"Astir throw the scale in! You can't expect us to fight them, not now!" Erutos yelled approaching the black dragon.

"I'll throw it into the volcano when I damn well please!" The dragon shot back. "We have unfinished business to take care of. So the scale will have to wait!"

"You're insane!" Reave murmured.

"Astir, just throw the scale in…" Krista said trailing off as she was still tired from the beating she had taken earlier. "For me." She added.

Astir looked her over for more than a few moments before replying. "No, these dragons have thwarted us from day one. Now they pay!" The dragon roared.

Spyro heard the black dragon's roar, which sent a shiver down his spine. The purple dragon quickly shook off the feeling, as he spread his wings catching the wind, and bringing him to a controlled stop on the ashen lip of the volcano. He heard the flutter of wings as Cynder and the others landed around him. The dragon didn't move his eyes from Astir who stared him down with glaring eyes.

"Astir give up, it's hopeless now." Spyro said.

"Give up?" The dragon paused to laugh. "I think you forget, I hold the scale of Raknos, one little move, and the world will end."

"You expect us to just turn and leave then? I'll pry the scale from your cold dead talons." Spyro growled. Cynder did well to hide her discomfort at the comment. She still wasn't comfortable with killing her own race, although she was beginning to think that she would have to make an exception.

"Just try." The black dragon taunted with a small smile.

Spyro roared accepting the challenge, as Astir knew he would. The purple dragon leapt forward, and breathed a blast of fire, the red hot flames scorching the ground where Astir had been standing, the black dragon having leapt away a second before. Spyro landed on the ground turning to face the dark dragon, hardly surprised that he had dodged the initial attack.

Each of the dragons sprung into battle, all of them except for Aegis. Azshea, was about to charge forward towards Erutos, but stopped herself when she saw that the lightning dragon wasn't moving.

"Aegis?" The red dragoness asked, although she could see Reave out of the corner of her eye and already knew what was wrong.

"Go somewhere else Azshea. I don't want you to get caught up in this too." The lightning dragon said.

"What? Why? I can fight too!" She exclaimed.

"I don't want to see you get hurt." Aegis said forcefully.

"How nice, my brother has a heart." Reave said his eyes narrowing sinisterly. "Time to break it."

Both Aegis and Azshea had heard the black dragon, but only Aegis moved fast enough. Black flames spread forth from Reave's mouth. Aegis, acting purely on reflex and instinct rammed Azshea with his shoulder, sending her rolling across the dirt. When she looked up shadowy fire was still engulfing the area where Aegis had been standing, the golden dragon being nowhere in sight.

Cynder sidestepped a sharp spike of ice that catapulted towards her. Her head swiveled quickly, locating Krista. The blue dragoness looked wobbly on her paws but had somehow still managed to summon the strength to spit ice. Cynder dove towards the dragoness her claws barred as she propelled herself across the short distance swiftly. She landed close to Krista and whipped her tail in front of her. The blow, which would have proven minor to any dragon as full strength, to Cynder's surprise sent the weary dragoness to the ash covered ground.

Cynder stalked forward to the dragoness who was taking heavy and deep breaths. Her blade like tail rose subconsciously, and only when it was creeping forward did she notice it, and immediately halted the blade in mid-air. The black dragoness stood there at a mental crossroads as she tried to decide on what to do. Her conscious screamed at her to stop, and that it was against everything she knew to kill another dragon. Outside of that in the position she was in, she knew it would be wise to kill her now.

Suddenly, the thoughts flew from her mind as the black dragoness was thrown to the ground. Erutos stood next to her, teeth bared.

"A pity that you couldn't see things our way." The green dragon said. With a quick slam of his paw a pillar of earth burst from the ground striking Cynder in the back of the skull, the devastating blow sending her world spinning. As Erutos stalked closer the dragoness stumbled to her feet trying her hardest to focus herself and her vision for if she didn't she would be dead within seconds.

Solris dove down spinning around on the ground behind Astir her tail spreading out behind her, acting as a tripwire. Astir easily jumped the cord, and simultaneously spat a glob of poison at Spyro who was still holding most of his attention.

"Solris you traitor, showing your face here, you're stupider than I imagined or did you forget?" Suddenly, the black dragoness stopped in her tracks. Astir ducked one of Spyro's quick swipes. As the black dragon went down the dark dragoness leapt forward, tackling Spyro to the soil. "I own you."

Spyro felt the sting in his chest as three slender, but deep claw marks appeared on his chest. The purple dragon stifled a cry as he struggled to push Solris off him.

"Spyro don't worry about me; just get the pendant from Astir…by any means necessary." The black dragoness said, although she could barely force the words out. Spyro nodded, not happy at all about what he was about to do.

The violet dragon kicked with his hind legs sending the dragoness a foot into the air. Once she wasn't making contact with Spyro the violet dragon conjured crackling energy from his body. Lightning struck Solris sending a burning shock through her body, and leaving her to fall to the ground with a dull thud. Spyro had no time to worry about her though as he rolled away from where he was laying, Astir's tail plunged into the earth at that spot.

Aegis burst from the black fires that licked at his body. The dragon's scales were obviously darkened from the blaze, but the fizzling pops of his scales didn't seem to bother him. He dove at Reave head on, and only at the last second turned his body to the side so that he would avoid a direct hit on the larger dragon's chest. Aegis wasn't stupid, and knew that in direct combat he would lose. The golden dragon landed, and lightning blasted from his maw. The potent blast only sent a small shiver down Reave's spine though and the dragon hardly flinched. He instead turned on a vulnerable Aegis.

The black dragon raised a claw ready to strike, but he was interrupted as Azshea bit down on his neck. The crimson dragoness' teeth digging into the dragon's formidable hide. Reave immediately changed directions with his paw, and slapped Azshea away, the massive claws striking a rough blow that sent the dragoness tumbling on the ground. Quicker than Aegis could even register Reave spun on his heel, and swung his tail around like a club, bashing the lightning dragon in the chest sending him soaring through the air towards the lava that lay bubbling inside the volcano.

"Perhaps now is the time to end your pitiful little life." Reave said turning back to Azshea, who was getting back up.

"Reave, can't you just stop this. You were good once, I've heard the story. You could help us end this!" Azshea pleaded as she began to back away from the large dark dragon.

"At one time I would have readily said yes to that." Reave said stopping. The scarlet dragoness looked at him with curiosity wondering if her words had sparked something. "At one point I would have said yes." The dragon clarified. "But now I see this world for what it really is. You, my brother, and your friends, you are all a blight on this world. No, I won't stop, and now it's time to end you're wretched existence." The dragon said as he stalked forward.

As Erutos lunged forward towards a dazed Cynder, the black dragoness saw him coming, but couldn't even bring herself to move, as she could hardly stand straight at that moment.

Out of nowhere the green dragon was tackled in mid-flight, Icryious latching onto him, and sent the two rolling on the ground grappling with each other. Cynder shook her head trying to rid herself of the dizziness that had beset her. As the dragoness reopened her eyes, the blurriness was gone, but the throbbing pain in the back of her head was still there.

A sudden growl brought her back to attention as Krista lurched towards her, the ice dragoness' maw open wide, her sharp fangs bared. Cynder ducked the blue dragoness and turned herself around. She immediately had to take a few steps back as Krista swung viciously at her with razor-sharp talons.

Cynder retaliated with a burst of shadow fire, which scorched empty ground. Then before Krista could return an attack the black dragoness leapt away using her control of the wind to send her into the air swiftly.

Aegis flipped himself over as he flew through the air. His chest still sore from the heavy blow Reave had dealt him. The dragon could feel the heat intensify as he started to descend, and once he had turned over he knew why. The lightning dragon was heading straight for the lava in the volcano. Aegis flapped his strong wings as quickly as he could, effectively stopping himself, mere feet from the burning liquid.

The dragon breathed a sigh of relief, and waved his wings more rapidly to lift himself away from the lava. Out of nowhere there was a bubbling sound, and a sudden pop as lava burst into the air. Aegis snapped his body out of the way avoiding the airborne liquid. Seeing the danger he was in the dragon turned back towards the nine dragons, who were still fighting furiously on the rim of the volcano.

The golden dragon sped off towards them, his strong wings propelling him swiftly through the air. After a moment though Aegis saw the real potential of the volcano below him, as lava began to burst up from all places. The thick orange liquid spraying all around him, Aegis beat his wings faster as he tried to escape the suddenly violent volcano. He rolled to the left and then veered back to the right to avoid two more showers of magma.

As he evened out in the sky he saw Reave approaching Azshea, the red dragoness backing away slowly, fear in her eyes. His blood began to boil as he thought about the black dragon. As a result he pushed himself harder, speeding up his flight. Within seconds the golden dragon reached the lip of the volcano, and dropped into a dive.

Aegis landed on Reave's back with devastating force. The blow sending the black dragon to the ground, slamming his face in the dirt, as powerful as the attack had been it seemed to hardly faze him as he growled and began to pick himself back up. As he worked his way to his paws Aegis clung to his back biting, and tearing at him.

The black dragon chuckled as he felt the blows, the sharp talons feeling like pin pricks. "So foolish little brother, you must realize that it won't work."

"Perhaps we should try something else then." Aegis murmured, more to himself than to his brother.

Aegis suddenly let up his assault, and instead wrapped himself around the black dragon, while he began to gather his energy. Reave noticed this immediately, and began to jostle the dragon in any way he could. He didn't get far though as a blast of fire enveloped him. The flames licking his body, and obscured his vision, the fires quickly let up though, and Azshea took her chance, tackling the dragon in the chest. The blow itself did little to hurt the black dragon, but her plan wasn't to kill the dragon, only to distract him.

Her plan seemed to work as Reave swiped at her, which she easily ducked away from. Azshea's attention was turned back to Aegis as he suddenly got up once again this time releasing a horrifying roar that even scared Azshea slightly.

The noise sent chills down everyone's spin, even Reave's. The snarl was followed quickly as dark clouds seemed to sweep in out of nowhere, bringing with them a rough wind. Only seconds after they appeared the sky began to light up, first slowly, but growing rapidly. Finally, with a thundering crack lightning bolted down from the sky, the massive plume of electrical energy blasting the ground right on top of Aegis, and Reave.

All of the dragons were blown back from the blast of the impact. Azshea flew the farthest, tumbling through the air until she regained her control of her body. As the dragoness leveled out she looked back to the spot where Reave and Aegis had been. Now there was a massive crack in the rim of the volcano, with lava rushing through the opening and down the side.

Azshea peered frantically through the dust that had been kicked up by the lighting, but found no sign of Aegis, or his brother.

The explosion rocked across the rim of the volcano sweeping all of the dragons off of their feet. Spyro rolled tumbled across the ground as the rocks beneath his talons trembled. The purple dragon quickly regained balance, only to find Astir leaping atop him. The black dragon landed on Spyro's back, and the violet dragon reared back in protest. Astir was hardly swayed by the act, and he continued to rip into Spyro's scales.

Thinking quickly the violet drake threw himself to the dirt. He landed on his side rolling over, and grinding Astir into the dirt. He writhed on the ground for a good minute before he felt the black dragon's talons and teeth loosen on his body. As soon as he felt it Spyro rolled over again and sprang upright.

Spyro's victory didn't last long though as Solris swooped in, and plowed him back to the earth. The black dragoness was obviously not acting of her own will, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. Spyro pushed his thoughts aside, and pushed himself away from the dragoness, just as her tail blade slammed into the ground. Luckily, she still seemed tired from the blow that Spyro had dealt her earlier, but the violet dragon knew that he would have to get that pendant from Astir soon, or be forced to put Solris down for good.

Shaking the last thought from his head Spyro zoned in on Astir who was grinning sadistically at him. He knew he had the upper hand, as he controlled Solris' movements. Spyro leaped across the dirt at him ready to kill.

Icryious launched himself horizontally across the ground, a massive spike of earth emerging from the ground where he had just been. The dragon continued this movement working his way closer to Erutos who, during the explosion, had somehow managed to get away from him. The dragon launched himself forward again. This time in mid-flight he fired a spike of ice. The spear like object cut through the air. Erutos, distracted by using his powers to control the earth, could only dodge slightly. The ice clipped his shoulder, although the hit was minor it tore through this scales leaving a fairly large gash in the dragon's skin. Icryious took no time to revel in his small victory, and instead sprinted forward while his opponent was distracted.

It appeared though that it was want Erutos wanted, for as the dragon sprinted forward, the seemingly hurt Erutos slammed his paw on the ground, sending a slab of earth to tilt suddenly. The portion of earth sent Icryious sprawling through the air as he hadn't been expecting an attack. The earth dragon seized the opportunity, and sprung towards the prone ice dragon. Erutos deftly spun his tail around slamming Icryious back into the earth.

Cynder ducked her head down, and snapped her body up and down, avoiding a steady barrage of ice spikes. Krista stood on the ground conjuring the icy spears, never faltering. Despite her unwavering attacks Cynder could see, even from the sky that the dragoness was growing weary, and that using her element so much would only tire her out more. Cynder only had to play for time and wait for the ice dragoness to seal her fate, the black dragoness rolled away from another spike before regaining her balance. She looked down again to see Krista readying to fire another spike of ice, although she seemed to be slowing down as she strained to fire another spike of ice.

Cynder took her chance, and dove down towards the dragoness. In mid-dive Cynder realized just how much danger she was in as Krista finally managed to launch he elemental attack. The ice spike soared through the air towards Cynder's slim body. The black dragoness' eyes widened in surprise, as the ice moved closer. With only milliseconds to spare the dragoness spun her body in a small circle. Cynder watched as the ice flew past her, unfortunately, she hadn't quite moved out of firing range and she felt pain rip through her body as the icy spear cut down her chest.

The dragoness finished her roll, and continued her dive towards Krista. The ice dragoness could already see this, and tried in vain to conjure her element once more. She didn't get the chance though, as Cynder slammed into her sending both of them rolling along the ground. As their momentum began to give out Krista kicked with her hind legs separating Cynder from her.

As Cynder got back up she was surprised to see Krista diving at her, teeth bared. Cynder hardly knew what to do. She crouched down, and dived forward, coming in below Krista's jaw. Cynder opened her own maw, and caught the dragoness in her throat. Cynder's ferocious attack struck harder, and there was a loud snap as the two tumbled to the ground.

Cynder kept her mouth wrapped around Krista's neck for a few long minutes. After the initial shock had left her Cynder stood back up, and stared down at Krista's now lifeless body. She could hardly believe what she had just done. The dragoness could feel her sorrow welling up, at the realization of what had happened. Cynder wrenched her eyes away from the ice dragoness' corpse. Cynder slowly stepped away from the body wanting to forget what she had done. The dragoness tried to push the thought from her mind as her eyes fell on Spyro. Cynder could clearly tell he was in trouble as Solris and Astir both pounced and swiped at him.

Azshea watched the lava flow from the massive gap in the volcano's rim. She scanned the area looking for some sign of Aegis, all the while praying to the ancestors for his safety. Despite her frantic searching she found nothing. Floating in the air, beating her large leathery wings to stay afloat, the dragoness ran out of ideas. A sudden crackle of electricity sent the dragoness spinning in the air. Her eyes focused on the spot seconds later, to find Aegis and Reave spinning in the air in a frenzied dance, each of them clawing and biting at each other, Aegis having just sent a strand of lightning at Reave, hitting the dragon dead on.

Azshea shook her head as she realized that Aegis needed help. She beat her wings, building up her forward momentum until she was flying steadily towards them. She watched with apprehension as the two dragons separated, and collided again and again. They only stayed together for seconds, just long enough to strike a few blows, before launching off into the air again, to avoid plummeting to the ground below.

As the scarlet dragoness neared the two dragons, she spat a few fireballs in Reave's direction, when she could. Two of them hit the dragon, although the flames seemed to bounce off of his scaly exterior. The dragoness growled in irritation before swooping in, and biting down on the black dragon's wing, grinding the bone segment between her teeth.

Reave grunted, but otherwise gave no outward sign that he was in pain. The black dragon turned his head around and breathed a blast of shadow fire. Azshea was forced to release the dragon as the black flames licked at her body.

Her attack had done its part though, as she glided away from the large dragon she looked back to see Aegis plummet into Reave. The golden dragon was glowing with electrical energy as he executed his devastating attack. Reave was caught head on by the blow, which knocked him from his position sending him on a quick spiral down to earth.

Azshea hovered alongside Aegis as they watched the black dragon fall. "Are you alright?" She asked worried. After the lightning had struck she couldn't be sure about his health.

"I'm fine, just a little worn." Aegis said rolling his shoulders, never taking his eyes off of his brother, who was still falling, and beginning to pick up speed.

"Are you sure there is no other way to do this?" Azshea asked, noting the dragon's eyes, and how they were pinned to his brother.

Aegis watched with a heavy heart as his brother fell. He knew the answer; he knew what he had to do. Unfortunately, that made the task no easier. His heart grew heavier still as he watched Reave pull out of his dive, and begin to climb back towards them. He had hoped that Reave would fall to the ground, and that would have been the end of it, he wasn't sure that he could kill Reave face to face.

"I am sure." Aegis said, although his voice didn't sound very convincing.

Azshea didn't question him; she hardly had the time to as she looked back down Reave was rushing up to meet her.

Spyro pushed off of the ground to avoid Solris who dived forward. As soon as his paws touched down he was immediately back-peddling as Astir came forward swinging his fore limbs furiously. After a moment the black dragon feinted with left claw before coming in with his right. Spyro, who was quickly tiring fell for the trick, and felt three deep lacerations form in his left shoulder. The purple dragon dropped to the ground as his shoulder began to bleed.

He tried to pull himself up, knowing that Astir would be on him any second. As much as he tried though, his shoulder wouldn't allow weight on his left fore-leg. The violet dragon watched as Astir closed in waving his tail blade menacingly. "I'm going to enjoy this." The dragon chuckled.

Spyro flinched as he saw Astir's tail snap down towards him. The purple dragon felt the tip enter his skin, but just as the blade began to enter, it was yanked back out. Spyro's eyes snapped open as the metal's rude exit route pained him. He looked up to see Cynder wrestling with Astir. The dragoness was thrashing at him with her claws, and occasionally trying to bite him.

After a few seconds Solris tackled the dragoness off of Astir, and as Solris and Cynder began to struggle with each other as Astir picked himself back up. The dragon laughed as he watched Cynder try to fend off Solris without seriously injuring her. "Even you can't hope to stop us Cynder!" He said.

Cynder growled, and breathed a wave of shadow fire, stunning Solris, before throwing the black dragoness off of her body. Cynder rolled over forcing herself up. The dragoness' eyes connected with Astir's in a matter of milliseconds. They eyed each other wearily, neither knowing what the other would do.

Cynder took a small step forward and almost immediately Astir raised his tail poising the blade only a few inches above Spyro's throat. The black dragon grinned, "Don't do anything you'll regret now." The dragoness glared at him, knowing that she was beaten.

"One more step, and I'll kill him." The dragon threatened still grinning. "Actually, why wait?" The dragon asked himself shaking his head as if he was being stupid. "Hell, I've been waiting for too long already!" The dragon yelled, as he plunged his tail blade forward towards Spyro's vulnerable neck.

"No!" Cynder yelled as she sped off towards Astir. The dragoness knew that she wouldn't make it in time, but she continued to run anyway.

As the metal tail tip began its descent the purple dragon quickly summoned his element, and smacked the ground with his claw, and right on time a small shield of earth popped up, the earth shield catching Astir's tail at the last second.

The black dragon's face was one of pure confusion. Just as he realized what was happening Cynder tackled him bringing both dragons to the ground again.

As soon as the immediate threat was over Spyro forced himself up. He grunted through the searing pain in his shoulder, trying his hardest to ignore it. The purple dragon flinched as he got to his full height, but turned to see Cynder wrestling with Astir, all the while making her way steadily closer to the amulet that hung around his neck.

Out of the corner of his eye Spyro noted a black figure, and he immediately summoned his element, launching a bolt of lightning that shocked Solris to her core. The blow would have normally left the dragoness sprawled on the ground, but the amulet that possessed her forced her onward. Solris stumbled forward ramming Spyro with her horns. The hit was not very effective, but it sent both of the weakened dragons backwards on shaky footing.

Cynder pushed her head to the side as Astir's claw swooped by nearly striking her. The dragoness swiped with her own talons, but found that any move she had planned Astir was ready for her. A sudden idea came to the dragoness, and she opened her maw releasing a terrifying high-pitched screech. The sound rendered Astir immobile, but Cynder knew that it would only last a few moments, if that. Luckily, a few moments were all that she needed. The slim dragoness quickly worked her talon under the small chain around Astir's neck, and pulled. The metal woven chain snapped, and with the amulet in her paw Cynder tossed the small trinket into the nearby lava.

As the amulet sunk down into the burning liquid it cracked, and shattered, sending a small pulse out from itself. As the amulet broke Solris stumbled, and suddenly all of the pain and weariness hit her like a brick wall. Solris' eyes rolled back, and she fell to the ground with a thud, before lying still.

Icryious fired a spike of ice, forcing Erutos to leap to the side to avoid being skewered. The green dragon landed on the ground with a rumble. Icryious felt the vibrations, and rolled away from where he was standing. As soon as he had moved a spear of earth shot up from the ground.

Icryious rushed the green dragon ramming him with his horns, and with a roar of anger, tossed the earth dragon into the sky. Erutos beat his wings a few times floating up into the air as he tried to regain his lost breath. Icryious however never stopped his attack. The dragon summoned as much of his element as he could, and loosed six spears of ice into the air.

The sharp ice flew through the air, hurtling towards a prone Erutos. The earth dragon managed to dodge two of the spike, but the other four sliced through him. Three spears hit his wings one piercing his right wing and the other two cutting through his left. The fourth spear embedded itself into the dragon's ribcage.

Erutos fell out of the sky, and landed roughly on the ground. The dragon coughed as he felt blood well up in his throat. Erutos watched as Icryious slowly approached, an air of victory swirling around his figure.

As the ice dragon reached Erutos he wanted nothing more than to let him bleed out where he lay. After everything he had done he deserved as much. Icryious swept the thoughts from his mind and turned his head as he delivered the finishing blow.

Azshea let out a muffled cry as Reave slammed into her, head first. The dragoness felt Reave move his head, and toss her away through the air. The crimson dragoness flipped over so that her stomach was facing the ground. It took her a moment to adjust her wings enough to fly, as if she just extended them they would have simply popped from their sockets. Within a moment the dragoness beat her wings a few short times and leveled herself off.

Although she had managed to keep herself from plummeting to the ground the dragoness found that she had no time to raise herself higher into the sky. While Azshea was focusing on her flight path, Reave had stayed in hot pursuit. As the red dragoness leveled off in the sky, Reave had rapidly caught up to the dragoness and tackled her in mid-flight. Reave hardly made any attempt to attack as the two dropped from the sky, he simply dug in his claws and held the dragoness in place, preventing her from squirming away. Azshea screamed in pain as the black dragon's claws sunk into her scaly skin.

She could see through her watering eyes that the ground, although still a good ways away was approaching much faster than before. Suddenly, an idea came to the dragoness, and she began to concentrate, ignoring the pain in her body. At first there was no real change but over the course of a few seconds Azshea's body began to heat up, becoming steadily warmer. Reave noted this, but did nothing more than what he was already doing.

After almost ten seconds of falling the dragoness' body had super-heated, and the sting of the scorching dragoness was starting to tear at Reave's rough exterior. He could feel his scales melting from the dragoness' touch. As a final act Azshea's head snapped forward biting down on his forearm, and sinking her teeth into the dragon's scales, and this time tearing right through them, for they had been softened by the excessive heat.

This maneuver was the last straw and Reave, released the dragoness, wanting nothing more than to separate himself from the searing dragoness. Azshea wasted no time in adjusting herself again, slowly coming to a steady float. When she turned to where she had last seen Reave she flinched in surprise to see a golden streak speed by her. By the time she had shifted her head down Aegis had smashed into Reave, sending the two on the same hurtle that she had just been through, except this time there would be no chance to pull out of the dive. Azshea dived after them at a more easily controlled pace. She knew there was no point to hurry, as she would never catch them in time. Her mind ran circles as she watched the two fall down to earth, her only hope was that when she reached the ground Aegis would still be alive.

Aegis bit and clawed at Reave as he moved around the larger dragon's body, constantly avoiding his grasp. With every step touch he could feel Reave's searing body, and knew in his mind that Azshea had been behind it. Why else would he have let her go, so willingly? Aegis spree of continued hits lasted for only a moment though as Reave grasped him, placing a tight grip around his neck.

As Aegis struggled against the choking hand, Reave stared up at him, his face a clam one. "If I am going to die, I'll at least take you with me." He said, and Aegis could hardly hear him against the wind.

"Why? You'll only help end the world!" Aegis said in a raspy voice. When Reave didn't respond he continued on. "Snap out of it Reave! Think of what Malefor did, he killed our parents, he tried to destroy the world!" The dragon paused for a moment. "He made you into what you are now."

There was a moment's pause before the black dragon spoke again. "It's too late for me Aegis, you can't change me now." The dragon said, and Aegis' heart sank, as he stared into his former brother's eyes.

"But, it's not too late for you." The dragon said, seeming as though he was forcing the words.

Aegis' eyes opened wide, and his jaw dropped. Almost before he registered the words Reave placed his hind legs on the golden dragon's chest, and pushed as hard as he could, launching the dragon upwards, effectively slowing him down, so that he could pull out of his dive. Aegis' eyes watered as he watched his brother fall, there was the faintest hint of a smile on the black dragon's face just before he crashed into the ground below, sending up a wave of dust and debris.

Aegis glided down allowing the dust to clear from the spot where his brother had fallen. He landed a few moments later, and stumbled through the dusty atmosphere, until he came upon a small crater. He knew he had found the spot. As the dust cleared, and his vision came to him he saw Reave's broken corpse. The dragon had already passed on. Despite this Aegis stared at him for what seemed like hours, hardly believing that it had really happened.

"Are you alright?" Azshea asked quietly as she approached the golden dragon. From her vantage point she had seen, what had happened but hadn't heard the words that were exchanged.

"He was back to himself." Aegis said after a long pause.

"What?" Azshea asked, surprised, but trying to keep her tone light.

"Right before he saved me, he told me…" The dragon trailed off as he remembered the moment, which had passed before he knew it. "Told me it wasn't too late, for me, and then he saved my life." He finished sadly.

"He really did all of that?" Azshea asked in disbelief.

Aegis nodded, before turned to face her with watering eyes. "He was his old self…I know it, but now…"

Azshea quickly stepped forward and caught the dragon in a tight hug. "It's okay."

Aegis didn't say anything he just stood there as thoughts of his brother swirled around him. "Everything is fine; Reave is in a better place now." Azshea said, although in her mind the words sounded ridiculous. Reave, the dragon who had harassed all of them, and helped in the plan to bring about the end of the planet itself, in a better place. Although, Azshea knew that it wasn't technically his fault, as he had been corrupted, the words still sounded funny. The dragoness pushed the thoughts away from her mind as she squeezed Aegis all the tighter.

"Azshea, we need to go." Aegis said his voice suddenly more collected.

"Are you sure?" Azshea asked taking a step back so that she could see the dragon face to face.

Aegis nodded, although the crimson dragoness could see that behind his stern face was a dragon on the verge of a breakdown. Azshea only nodded not wanting to break the dragon's mask. Without another word the two flew up back towards the rim of the volcano and the others.

Spyro got up again his shoulder sending a wave of pain through his body. The dragon pushed through it though as he came up next to Cynder, the black dragoness having been forced away from Astir. The two stood together facing the black dragon who looked haggard after all of the fighting he had gone through, although the same could be said for Spyro and Cynder, who each sported their own wounds.

"Give it up Astir, you've lost." Spyro said.

"On the contrary, you may have gotten, Solris back, but I still have the scale." Astir chided.

A sudden burst of fire from Spyro forced the dragon to back pedal into the air. The purple dragon's attack was quickly followed by a gust of wind from Cynder, which sent Astir on a short tumble, straight into the volcano. The black dragon sunk without a sound his body wrapped around the scale. There was a long silence after the dragon had disappeared. Spyro was the first to break it.

"Don't tell me we just…" Spyro said trailing off.

"We did…" Cynder said staring at the lava were Astir had sunk.

Both dragons stood in silence staring at the volcano, neither daring to move. The silence was broken as Solris groaned in pain, and the volcano seemed to rumble in response.

"What happened? Where's Astir?" Icryious asked, running over to the two dragons.

"In the volcano." Spyro said solemnly.

The ice dragon grinned, but stopped when he noticed that no one else was sharing in his happiness. "What?"

"He fell in with the scale." Cynder said, and Icryious jaw seemed to drop to the ground.

"So the world is going to end?" Solris asked as she staggered towards them.

No one answered the question as the volcano rumbled once again.

"We couldn't have come this far for this to happen!" Icryious said angrily stamping his paw on the ground.

"What can we do?" Spyro asked.

"You stopped the world from falling apart before, do it again!" Icryious stated insistently.

Spyro didn't have time to respond as the volcano rumbled a third time, and the lava exploded into the air. All of the dragons turned with wide eyes, as among the burning magma emerged another dragon. This one a full size adult, as black as Astir but with small cracks of orange appeared on his scales. The lines appearing as veins of magma, the dragon's red piercing eyes stared down at Spyro, and a familiar grin spread across the giant dragon's face.

"What the-

Spyro never finished his sentence as the dragon's tail whipped around colliding with him and Cynder, sending both dragons through the air before rolling on the rough soil.

As Spyro began to pick himself up he heard a sound that boomed like thunder. "Thought, I was dead, didn't you?" It said, although the sound was loud enough to make the dragon's ears ring.

"Astir?" Spyro said out loud. "But, how?"

Icryious landed next to Spyro and helped him back to his paws. "I think I know what's going on." He said staring at Astir who was busy examining his new adult body.

"What? How?" Spyro asked quickly.

"If Astir, and the Scale of Raknos entered the volcano then I bet that Astir absorbed the Scale's power." Icryious explained.

"So he has all of the power from the Scale of Raknos?" Spyro asked, and Icryious nodded. "Wouldn't that make him invincible?" Spyro asked.

"Possibly, but I doubt it, being strong doesn't make you immune to death." Icryious stated.

"Then it looks like we have one more fight on our claws." Spyro said giving a small smirk. "Any suggestions?"

Icryious shook his head, as Spyro had expected. The two were interrupted by another booming sound. "I guess I'll just have to destroy the world myself." Astir said as he turned towards Spyro, grinning. "Starting with you all, I'll tear you limb from limb!" He yelled menacingly as he leaped towards them.

The smaller dragons all dived out of the way of the now adult dragon. Icryious was the first to attack, firing a few spikes of ice at the dragon, which hit his rock hard skin, and shattered, into tiny icy particles.

Astir laughed, and lunged for the dragon. He wrapped Icryious in his paw, and began to squeeze the life out of him. The ice guardian had little defense, and was forced to wait as his breath was forced out of his lungs. His only hope lying in his friends to somehow save him.

His hopes seemed to be well placed as a sudden lightning bolt struck Astir near the eye. Aegis landed on the ground by the large dragon, marveling at the sudden transformation. Azshea took another approach, and flew straight at the large black dragon, latching onto his face. The crimson dragoness hacked away with her talons at anything see could find. Astir roared with anger, and stood on his hind legs before shaking the dragoness off. As he stood up the dragon loosened his grip, and Icryious fell to the ground breathing, heavily. Azshea gave one swoop of her wings, spitting a few small fireballs as she fell back to the ground with a graceful landing.

Astir turned around suddenly feeling a biting pain on his backside. Cynder had only just finished spitting a glob of green poison on him when the large dragon was upon her. She jumped into the air to avoid Astir's claw. The black dragoness didn't quite clear the jump though and as she was clipped she fell to the ground roughly.

Cynder luckily retained enough sense to roll as she landed moving her out of Astir's claws, which slashed down on the spot she had been at. Astir was more persistent this time though and opened his mouth unleashing a flow of dark fire which enveloped Cynder.

As the black dragoness faded from view Spyro loosed a few bolts of lightning, the shots doing nothing more than grab Astir's attention, which sent Spyro to the air, as the dragon stabbed at his position with his sharp tail.

Astir was about to breathe another wave of shadow fire at Spyro but stalled himself as he felt the shocks of lightning bolts on his hind legs. The attacks felt to him like small pin pricks, and he chuckled loudly at the feeble attempt. His tail swooped around catching Aegis in the side, and sending him tumbling away through the air.

When he turned back to face Spyro the purple dragon landed on his face, just as Azshea had done. Within moments Spyro exhaled a burst of white hot fire. The flames licking the dragon's face, sending him into a disoriented flailing.

The black flames that covered Cynder suddenly burnt out as the dragon harnessed her power over wind, snuff out the fires. She looked over to see the unfolding scene, and watched as Astir tried to remove Spyro from his face. After a moment she noticed Solris who was sneaking around the dragon's back, and seemed to be making her way to his belly. Cynder leapt off the ground, and beat her wings making a long arc around Astir, so that she would not be noticed. Although she found that to be a slim chance as Spyro still had him distracted, she landed next to Solris making the dragoness jump at her sudden appearance.

"Follow me." Were the only instructions that she was given.

As Astir grabbed at Spyro more frequently, the violet dragon jumped away to avoid the large dragon's paws, which had almost caught him multiple times. As he leapt away Azshea put her plan into action. She hurtled forward, summoning her fiery energy. The element encompassed her figure making her appear as though she was a shooting star. The red dragoness bashed Astir's side sending the already off-balance dragon onto his side.

As he fell over Solris signaled for Cynder to follow her lead before sprinting off towards the fallen dragon, as the Astir was still acclimating to his new body he had a bit more trouble as he tried to right himself again. As he maneuvered around he felt two sharp pains in his belly as Cynder, and Solris began to slash away at his softer skin.

The dragon's body was still tough and leathery there, but it was much easier to tear through than at his dark black scales. The two dragoness' took advantage of that for the few moments they had before Astir managed to get back to his paws, and they were forced to back away, but not before leaving many gashes that were even then beginning to bleed openly.

As Solris and Cynder backed away Astir took in a sharp breath, before exhaling, catching both of them in a wave of shadow fire. Solris and Cynder didn't notice but the fires had caught Icryious, Azshea, and Spyro as well, leaving all of them too cook in the massive wave of black fire.

That would have been the end of the group there, but luckily Aegis had been previously tossed away by Astir. Now the golden dragon bolted back, and quickly understood the peril his friends were in. He wasted no time launching himself towards Astir, and landing on his face. The initial shook of the landing left the black dragon stunned as he had forgotten about the golden dragon. Aegis smirked before spitting a bolt of lightning straight into the dragon's left eye. The electricity knocked out the dragon's eye forming a bloody hole there instead.

Astir roared in agony as he felt his eye explode, and clawed near his face in wild anger, but Aegis was already gone. The yellow dragon dropped down to where the others were, as the fires extinguished, and they all moved their burning bodies hoping to cool down. Spyro was the first to recover from the blow, and he stared at Astir who was breathing heavily and poking at the area where his eye used to be.

"Just give up Astir! You can't win, you're outnumbered!" Spyro yelled, and the dragon stopped what he was doing to stare at the dragon with his one good eye. Spyro had to stop himself from turning away from the gruesome image as there was now a bloody mass on the dragon's face where his eye socket was.

"Numbers don't win everything." Astir said. "You forget that I hold the power of Scale of Raknos, and with it I'll crush you and your friends!" The dragon yelled.

With a roar of defiance from the black dragon the lava in the volcano behind him arced into the air, and flew down towards the dragons.

"Move!" Spyro yelled, as the dragons dived out of the way to avoid being melted by hot magma.

Spyro rolled forward and came up to his paws launching a burst of ice spikes which embedded themselves into the dragon's skin, but only barely. The violet dragon then ducked out of the way as another burst of lava swamped where he was standing. Spyro jumped into the air, and spat a fire ball at Astir before flying away through the air. As he flew though he heard a strange noise, and did a barrel roll. He found a moment later that if he had not then he would have been charred by lava a column of lava. The purple dragon dived to avoid another stream of the liquid.

As Spyro maneuvered there was a sudden cry, and the purple dragon turned in surprise to see Solris leap out of the way of another wave of lava. She wasn't as lucky as the others though, and some of the thick scorching liquid landed on her hind leg. The dragoness fell to the ground, and tried in futility to brush the small globs off of her scaly skin. She was only partially successful as the places that were touched by the lava would be extremely burnt in the future, but luckily she managed to remove most all of the liquid.

As she was distracted though, Astir reached down and grabbed her. He would have normally just killed the prone dragoness, but found that Solris was special, and therefore deserved a more unique death. He slowly pulled the struggling dragoness in closer towards his mouth, all the while saying, "You deserve a death that is most horrifying for what you have done, to the seven."

Spyro watched in terror as his friend inched closer to Astir's mouth. He only had one idea, but it was a long shot and would drain him of much of his energy. At this point though he didn't care, anything was an option, and with Solris' life on the line he took little time to debate his actions. The purple dragon planted his feet on the ground, so that he was firmly set.

Solris struggled harder, and harder as she was moved steadily closer to Astir's opening maw. No matter how much she writhed in the massive dragon's paw though, she couldn't escape his grip. Just when she thought doom was certain there was a thunderous boom and beam of purple light smashed into Astir with devastating force. The dragon immediately lost his grip on the slim dragoness as he tried to escape the burning light.

Solris wasted no time, and flew away from the dragon, having no desire to be that close to his mouth again. She knew that the attack had come from Spyro and she nodded in his direction as silent thanks. The purple dragon returned the nod before turning back to Astir, who had regained his composure, had already fired another attack. An entire wave of lava came rushing towards Spyro from all directions.

The purple dragon didn't have time to move from the lava that was growing ever closer. Suddenly, Azshea appeared next to the violet dragon. Spyro flinched when he saw her as he wondered if she knew that she had just moved into certain doom.

As the lava cascaded down upon both dragons, Spyro closed his eyes, but when no burning pain came he opened them again. He was startled to see the cone shaped stream of lava suspended in mid-air just over them. Azshea stood with her wings spread straining on as she concentrated her power. "Raknos wasn't the only fire dragon." She said through strained lips. "Now hurry up and attack, before I lose control of this lava."

Spyro nodded, and began to focus himself once again. Astir could see that the dragon was planning another burst of convexity, and pushed himself harder to make the lava wash over them. As he gathered his energy the lava began to creep closer to the two dragons.

Icryious noted the two dragon's perilous situation, and took it upon himself to stop it. The ice dragon bounded into the sky, and aimed at Astir who was focusing too much to notice him. He reared back his head, and snapped it forward summoning a sharp spear of ice. The frozen liquid shot forward, and within seconds sunk into Astir's right eye, leaving him to roar, and writhe where he stood at the loss of his other orb.

As the dragon lost complete his focus, the lava around Spyro and Azshea dropped to the ground, and Azshea collapsed along with it due to her exertion to keep it at bay. Only moments later Spyro opened his maw and released a second beam of violet light. The purplish hue snapping across the landscape faster than any of the dragon's could register before smashing into Astir, who gave another defiant roar as he was tossed backwards by the force, and thrown once again into the molten core of the volcano.

The dragon splashed against the thick liquid, but to no avail and sunk into the magma shortly after.

The six dragons stood on the rim of the smoking lava filled volcano, watching the red burning substance. Each of them wondering if this time it was over, if this time they had ended the seven dragons of darkness for good. The six stood in silence watching and waiting as if expecting Astir to jump back out and the fight would start anew. No such event occurred.

"Is…is he dead?" Cynder asked.

Spyro tried to speak but the words were stuck in his mouth and it took him a moment to process them, and realize what he was saying. "We did it Cynder, he's gone." Spyro said turning to her with a smile.

**A/N: Alright, I just put the epilogue in here because I didn't want to put out the chapter then make you guys wait another month for me to write an epilogue. Just a warning I had no idea what I was doing for this so hopefully it turned out alright.**

Epilogue

Fifteen years had passed. It seemed to Spyro as though it was only yesterday that he was making the same journey. The purple dragon, now an adult, flew through the air away from Warfang. His mate, Cynder, beside him, the dragoness having grown in size as well, but managing to keep her lithe form, while Spyro had grown more muscular with age. Spyro looked at her and smiled with satisfaction, the dragoness was still as beautiful as the first day they had met.

"Dad, where are we going?" A small voice asked bringing Spyro from his thoughts.

In front of him a young dragon who was only starting to mature was flying in front of him, twisting his body around as he tried to get a good view of his father, while flying at the same time. The small purple dragon bore a dark crimson crest and black horns and claws. His eyes were purple to match his skin, and were right now filled with inquiry.

"I told you Taelas, you will have to wait until you get there." Spyro said smiling at the little dragon whose curious nature was constantly making him ask the same question over and over again.

"Awww, but dad-

"Taelas you heard your father, it won't be too long now." Cynder chided.

The small purple dragon hung his head as he had been hoping for an answer to the question that had eluded him for the past few weeks.

"Mommy, will you tell me?" Another dragoness asked, this one having dark blue skin and a deep golden crest.

"No, Aria you are no different from your brother." Cynder replied in a calm tone. The younger dragoness slowly dropped back a bit to join her older brother in his pouting.

"Your kids won't stop asking you either, huh?" A voice asked, and Spyro turned to see Aegis, fly up next to him.

"Of course not Aegis, how about yours?" Spyro asked with a small laugh.

"Syra is circling Azshea like a gnat, and I don't think she has stopped to breathe the whole way." Aegis said as he tried to keep from laughing at his own joke.

Before Spyro could respond a small pink dragoness landed on the golden dragon's head. "Speak of the devil." He said rolling his eyes at Spyro. "What is it Syra?" The dragon asked looking up as he tried to get a glance at his daughter.

"Where are we going?" Syra asked in a small squeaking voice.

"I can't tell you, but you'll find out in a little while." Aegis said.

Syra gave a little stamp and Aegis blinked as she hit his head. "Syra go and talk with Aria and Taelas, it will distract you until we get there." Aegis said.

The small pink dragoness seemed to cheer up at this and opened her little sunburst colored wings catching the wind before falling back next to the other two younger dragons.

"Remember when we were that energetic?" Aegis asked.

"Yeah, it was a lot different then." Spyro said thinking about his younger days.

"Spyro!" A voice said making the purple dragon turn. Solris flew down next to him, her body cutting through the wind as it always did. Although Spyro figured it was because of her element not her physical skill, never the less she was the most graceful dragoness in the sky.

"What is it Solris?" Spyro asked.

"You might want to gather up your children, the Burned Lands are drawing near, and they are still relatively unsafe." The black dragoness explained. "Aegis, Icryious is informing Azshea right now, but you might want to rejoin them, just in case."

Aegis nodded. "Thanks for the warning." He said before banking away so that he was closer to Azshea.

Spyro followed suit, he and Solris coming to rest near Cynder. Taelas and Aria coming up in between them, their small wings working double to keep the pace, the rest of the journey passed in silence none of the dragons speaking so that they wouldn't be distracted if something did happen.

The younger generation of dragons stared at the landscape as they passed by. The decrepit black landscapes with lava, and fire still burning on it sent shivers down their spines. Aria becoming so frightened that she flew up, and ducked behind her father's head.

Spyro felt the dragoness' presence, and whispered to her. "Don't worry Aria, there is nothing here that can hurt you, I promise."

The small dragoness felt comforted by her father's words, but didn't move out from behind his head. Taelas just watched in silence taking in the desolate landscape, the place scared him, but yet he could not look away.

Finally, the dragons came to their destination. A giant volcano, in which the magma was still relatively high, the dragon's wasted no time and landed lightly on the rim. Spyro sighed as he looked at the sight of his finally battle. The young dragons walked around tentatively, placing their paws on the ground lightly, as if they thought it would lurch up and swallow them whole.

"Why are we here dad?" Aria asked her voice quaking.

"We are here Aria because we have come here every year on this day, as it is symbolic." Spyro explained.

"Sy-symbolic?" Aria asked struggling with the large word.

"It was important to them." Taelas said tapping his sister on the head. "So what happened?" The dragon asked looking around to the six older dragons that stood around him his sister and Syra.

"Have a seat and we'll tell you." Cynder replied and the small male immediately sat on his haunches, followed shortly by Aria and Syra.

"What we are about to tell you, we tell you because you need to know your parent's history." Spyro said.

"Then why are they here?" Syra asked pointing a loan claw to Icryious and Solris.

"Syra! Don't ask questions like that." Azshea quipped.

"Sorry." Syra said looking down a bit.

"It's okay Syra, just remember next time." Azshea said her tone much lighter. "Go ahead Spyro."

The purple dragon nodded. "Cynder and I were flying in the blue sky over Avalar. We had just defeated Malefor, but things were about to get a lot worse." The purple dragon explained.

"Wasn't Malefor, The Dark Master?" Taelas asked cocking his head to the side.

"He was." Cynder answered.

"And you two defeated him?" The small purple dragon asked.

"Yes, we did." Spyro said nodding his head. The violet dragon had to keep from laughing as his son's jaw dropped. Spyro and Cynder had made an effort to keep their legacy a secret around their children. They didn't want them growing up with the idea that they were better than everyone else, just because of their parents. Although they soon found that many wanted nothing more than to forget Malefor's reign. Taelas and Aria had heard little rumors, but had never confirmed their theories about their parents.

"As I was saying though, things were about to get much worse. Malefor was gone, but his seven lieutenants were still alive, The Seven Dragons of Darkness…"

**A/N: Alright finally note, well that's it everyone. The Seven Dragons of Darkness ends here, I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it (even if it was hard at times). I wanted to put this note in here just to say thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this story or even just read it. If it wasn't for you guys this story wouldn't have made it past chapter 1. So I hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading!**


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